LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

Class 


RED    JACKET 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

OR 

AN  HISTORICAL  ACCOUNT 

OF   THOSE 

INDIVIDUALS  WHO  HAVE)   BEEN   DISTINGUISHED 
AMONG  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  NATIVES 

AS 

ORATORS,   WARRIORS,    STATESMEN, 

AND 
OTHER   REMARKABLE   CHARACTERS 


BY 

B.  B.  THATCHER,  ESQ. 

IN    TWO    VOLUMES. 

VOL.    I. 


OF 


A.    L.    FOWLE 

NEW  YORK 

igoo 


PREFACE 

THE  Author  docs  not  propose  an  elaborate  explanation,  nor  an 
•pology  of  any  kind,  for  the  benefit  of  the  following  work.  If  it 
absolutely  requires  either,  he  must  even  be  content  to  have  written 
it  in  vain,  as  no  statement  or  argument  can  give  it  any  degree  of 
vitality  or  popularity  in  the  pns  case  or  in  the  other. 

Ho  has  regarded  it,  historically,  as  an  act  of  mere  justice  to  the 
fame  and  the  memories  of  many  wise,  brilliant,  brave  and  gene 
rous  men, — patriots,  orators,  warriors  and  statesmen, — who  ruled 
over  barl>:iri:ui  communities,  and  were  indeed  themselves  barba 
rians,  but  whose  influence,  eloquence  and  success  of  every  descrip 
tion  were  therefore  but  the  nobler  objects  of  admiration  and  the 
worthier  subjects  for  record.  Nor  can  Philosophy  look  upon  them 
without  predilection.  Comparatively  unopinionated  and  unaffect 
ed  as  they  were, — governed  by  impulse  and  guided  by  native 
sense, — owing  little  to  circumstances,  and  struggling  much  amidst 
and  against  them, — their  situation  was  the  best  possible  for  devel 
oping  both  genius  and  principle,  and  their  education  at  the  same 
time  the  best  for  disclosing  them.  Their  Lives,  then,  should  illus- 
trate  the  true  constitution  of  man.  They  should  have,  above  all 
other  history,  the  praise  and  the  interest  of  '  philosophy  teaching 
by  example.' 

The  strictly  moral  inducements  which  have  operated  on  the 
Author's  mind,  must  be  too  obvious  to  require  dissertation.  We 
owe,  and  our  Fathers  owed,  too  much  to  the  Indians, — too  much 
from  man  to  man, — too  much  from  race  to  race, — to  deny  them  the 
poor  restitution  of  historical  justice  at  least,  however  the  issue  may 
have  been  or  may  be  with  themselves.  Nor  need  it  be  suggested, 
that  selfishness  alone  might  dictate  the  policy  of  a  collection 
•uch  as  the  Author  has  endeavored  to  make  this,  were  it  only  for 
the  collateral  light  which  it  constantly  throws  on  the  history  and 
biography  of  our  own  nation. 

Nothing  of  the  same  character  is  before  the  public.  What  may 
be  called  an  Indian  Biographical  Dictionary  has  indeed  recently 
appeared,  and  to  that  the  Author  has  gladly  referred  in  the  course 
of  his  researches  ;  but  the  extreme  difficulty  of  doing  justice  to 
any  individuals  of  the  race,  and  at  the  same  time  to  all,  may  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  writer  alluded  to  has  noticed  such 
men  as  Uncas  in  some  six  or  eight  lines,  while  he  has  wholly 
omitted  characters  so  important  as  Buckongahelas,  White-eye*, 
Pipe,  and  Occonostota.  On  these,  and  on  all  their  more  eminent 
countrymen,  the  Author  has  intended  to  bestow  the  notice  they  de- 
•erve,  by  passing  over  the  vast  multitude  distinguished  only  by 
detached  anecdote,  or  described  only  in  general  terms. 

In  fine,  conscious  of  many  imperfections,  but  also  conscious  of  a 
strenuous  exertion  to  render  them  as  few  and  small  as  might  b«, 
the  Author  submits  the  Biography  to  the  public,  and  especially  to 
the  candor  of  those  whose  own  labors,  if  not  the  results  of  them, 
have  shown  them  the  essential  fallibility  of  every  composition 
like  this.  He  will  have  reason  to  be  satisfied  if  it  do  good,  as  h« 
will  assuredly  be  gratified  if  it  give  pleasure. 

Boston,  Sept.  10,  18& 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  I. — The  Indian  tribes  of  Virginia  at  the  date  of  the  James 
town  settlement :  their  names,  numbers  and  power — The  Pow- 
hatan  confederacy — The  Indian  Village  of  that  name — POWHAT 
AN — The  circumstances  of  the  first  interview  between  him  and 
the  English — OPECHANCANOUGH,  his  brother — Opitchipan — Re 
ception  of  Captain  Smith  by  Powhatan — Interposition  of  POCA 
HONTAS  in  his  favor — Second  visit  of  the  colonists — Third  visit, 
and  coronation — Entertainment  of  Smith  by  Pocahontas — Con 
test  of  ingenuity  between  Powhatan  and  Smith  :  and  between 
the  latter  and  Opechancanough — Smith  saved  again  by  Pceahon- 
tas — Political  manoBuvres  of  Powhatan  and  Opechancanough — 
Smith's  return  to  Jamestown.  -----  page  S 

OHAP.  II.— Conduct  of  Powhatan  after  Smith's  departure  for 
England,  and  causes  of  it — Hostilities  resumed — Peace  finally 
effected  by  the  capture  of  Pocahontas — Manner  of  gaining  this 
point — Marriage  of  Pocahontas  with  John  Rolfe — Death  and 
character  of  Powhatan — His  person,  manner  of  living,  talents, 
influence.  His  method  and  means  of  warfare — The  discipline 
of  his  warriors — The  manner  in  which  he  availed  himself  of  the 
English  arms  and  science — Causes  of  his  hostility  towards  the 
colonists — His  dignity — Shrewdness — Independence —  Courtesy 
—Liberality— Simplicity— Affection  for  his  relatives— A  review 
of  various  opinions  entertained  of  him  by  various  historians.  40 

CHAP.  III.— The  family  of  Powhatan— His  successor— Sequel  of 
the  history  of  Pocahontas — Her  acts  of  kindness  to  the  colonists 
at  various  times,  and  especially  to  Smith — His  gratitude — Her 
civilisation,  and  instruction  in  Christianity — Her  visit  to  Eng 
land  in  1616 — Reception  at  Court — Interview  with  Smith — His 
memorial  respecting  her  to  Queen  Anne — Her  death  and  charac 
ter — Her  descendants.  -----  -  66 

CHAP.  IV. — Sequel  of  the  history  of  Opechancanough — Renewa., 
by  him  and  Opitchipan,  of  the  treaty  of  peace — Finesse  by  which 
he  extended  his  dominion  over  the  Cnickahominies — Prepara 
tions  for  War — Causes  of  it — Profound  dissimulation  under  which 
his  hostility  was  concealed — Indian  custom  of  making  Conjurers 
— Manoeuvres  against  the  English  interest — The  great  massacre 
of  1622  ;  circumstances  and  consequences  of  it — Particular  occa 
sion  which  led  to  it — Character  and  death  of  NEMATTANOW — 
Details  of  the  war  subsequent  to  the  massacre — Truce  broken  by 
the  English — New  exertions  of  Opechancanough — Battle  of  Pa- 
rnunkey — Peace  of  1632 — Massacre  of  1641 — Capture  of  Opechan 
canough  by  the  English — His  death  and  character.  -  -77 
'HAP.  V. — Biography  of  other  Virginian  chieftains — OPITCHIPAW 
—Some  particulars  respecting  TOMOCOMO — His  visit  to  England, 
interview  with  Captain  Smith,  and  return  to  America — JAPA- 
T.AWS,  chief  s^hem  of  the  Patowomekes — His  friendship  for  the 
English — 111  treatment  which  he  received  from  them — TOTOPO 
TOMOI,  successor  of  Opechancanough — His  services — His  death 
in  1656— Notices  of  several  native  chiefs  of  North  Carolina 
— GRANOANIMO,  who  dies  in  1585 — MENATENON,  king  of  the 
Chowanocks — ENSENORE,  father  of  Granganimo  ;  and  WINGINA, 
his  brother — Plot  of  the  latter  against  the  Hatte  *as  colony — His 
death — Comment  on  the  Carolinian  Biography.  -  95 


CONTENTS. 

CHAP.  VI.— Synopsis  of  the  New  England  Indians  at  the  date  of 
the  Plymouth  Settlement — The  Poknnoket  confederacy — The 
Wampanoag  tribe — Their  first  head-Sachem  known  to  the  Eng 
lish,  MASSASOIT — The  first  interview  between  him  and  the 
whites — His  visit  to  Plymouth,  in  1621 — Treaty  of  peace  and 
friendship — Embassy  sent  to  him  at  Sowams,  by  the  English — 
Anecdotes  respecting  it — He  is  suspected  of  treachery  or  hostili 
ty,  in  1623 — His  sickness  in  1623— -A  second  deputation  visit! 
him — Ceremonies  and  results  of  the  visit — His  intercourse  with 
other  tribes — Conveyances  of  land  to  the  English-  His  death  and 
character — Anecdotes.  .......  115 

CHAP.  VII.— Massasoit  succeeded  by  his  son  ALEXANDER— The 
occasion  of  that  name  being  given  by  the  English — History  of 
Alexander  previous  to  his  father's  death — Covenant  made  with 
Plymouth  in  1639 — Measures  taken  in  pursuance  of  it,  in  1661 — 
Anecdote  illustrating  the  character  of  Alexander — Notice  of  the 
charges  made  against  him — Examination  of  the  transaction  which 
led  to  his  death — Accession  of  PHILIP — Renewal  of  the  treaty  by 
him — Interruption  of  harmony — Supposed  causes  of  it — Measures 
taken  in  consequence — Philip's  submission — Letter  to  the  Plym 
outh  Governor — Second  submission  in  1671 — Remarks  on  th« 
causes  of  PHILIP'S  WAR. 141 

3HAP.  VIII. — Preparations  for  war  between  Philip  and  the  Colo 
nies — Great  excitement  of  the  times — Deposition  of  Hugh  Cole — 
Immediate  occasion  of  hostilities — Commencement  of  them, 
June  24th,  1675 — Summary  sketch  of  the  war — Consequences  to 
th«  parties  engaged — Exertions,  adventures  and  escapes  of  King 
Philip — His  death — Anecdotes  respecting  him — Observations  on 
his  character — His  courage,  dignity,  kindness,  independence, 
shrewdness,  and  self-command — Fate  of  his  family — Defence  of 
his  conduct.  ---------  159 

CHAP.  IX.— Lie  Narraghansett  tribe  ;  territory  and  power— Chief 
Sachems  at  the  date  of  the  English  settlements  in  New  England 
— CANONICUS  associates  with  himself  MIANTONOMO,  his  nephew 
—Their  treatment  of  Roger  Williams  in  1634— Hostility  to  the 
Plymouth  Colony — Invited  by  the  Pequots  to  fight  the  English — 
Treaty  negotiated  at  Boston,  in  1636,  by  Miantonomo — War 
with  the  Pequots  and  result  of  it — Subsequent  hostility  between 
Miantonomo  and  UNCAS — SEQUASSEN — Battle  of  the  Sachem's- 
Plain — Capture  of  Miantonomo — Sentence  of  the  English  com 
missioners  upon  him — Execution  of  it.  -  -  -  177 

CHAP.  X.— Consideration  of  the  justice  of  the  Commissioners 
sentence  upon  Miantonomo — Their  reasons,  as  alleged — The 
charge  against  him  of  ambitious  designs — Of  employing  the  Mo 
hawks—Of  breaking  the  league  of  1638—'  Concerning  the  Pe- 
quot  squaws  '—Of  hostility  to  the  English— Of  peculation- 
Proofs  of  his  fidelity  and  friendship — Causes  of  complaint  by  him 
and  Canonicus  against  the  English — Character  of  both  Sachemi 
—Their  treatment  of  Roger  Williams— Letters  of  that  gentlemai 
—Anecdotes— Death  of  Canonicus.  -  19* 

CHAP.  XI.— Canonicus  succeeded  by  PESSACUS— MEXHAM— NIKI 
ORET,  Sachem  of  the  Nianticks — Proposals  made  by  them  to  the 
English,  and  by  the  English  in  return — They  commence  hostili 
ties  against  Uncas — The  English  resolve  to  make  war  upon  them 
—They  make  concessions— Their  visits  to  Boston— Subsequent 
movements  against  Uncas.  An  armed  party  sent  against  Nini- 


CONTENTS. 

gnl  and  Pessacus — They  are  accused  of  a  league  with  the  Dutcfi 
against  the  English.     ...  -       -       -       -       91t 

CHAP.  XII.— Sequel  of  the  lives  of  Ninigret  and  Pessacus,  from 
1653 — Various  accusations,  deputations,  and  hostile  movement* 
between  them  and  the  English — Controversy  between  Ninigret 
and  Harmon  Garrett — Application  for  justice  in  1675 — Conduct 
of  Ninigret  in  Philip's  War — Consequences  of  it — His  death — 
Death  of  Pessacus — Some  of  the  charges  against  the  former  con- 
ridered — His  hostility  to  Uncas,  and  the  Long  Islanders,  and 
«  League  with  the  Dutch'— Remarks  on  his  character.  -  23 
JHAP.  XIII.— The  Pequot  tribe— Their  first  chief-sachem  know* 
to  the  English,  PEKOATH — succeeded  by  SASSACUS — An  embassy 
•ent  to  Boston  in  1631 — Residence  and  strong-hold  of  Sassacus 
— His  earliest  intercourse  with  the  English — Murder  of  Captain 
Stone — Justification  of  it  by  Sassacus — He  proposes  a  treaty  of 
peace  in  1634 — Sends  deputies  to  Boston  twice — Treaty  r.onclud 
ed — Anecdotes — His  wars  with  the  Narraghansetts — Fresh  con 
troversy  with  the  English— They  send  an  armed  party  to  demand 
damages — Conduct  of  the  party,  and  consequences  of  it — War 
with  the  Pequots  in  1636— Political  movements  of  Sassacus — 
English  expedition  against  him  in  1637 — He  is  defeated — Driven 
from  his  country  —Killed  by  the  Mohawks— The  English  policy 
i»  hi*  case  briefly  considered.  ......  250 

CHAP.  XIV.— The  Pequot  territory  claimed  by  UWCAS— His  tribe, 
family,  and  early  history — Services  in  the  PequoT  expedition  re 
warded  by  the  English — Effect  of  their  favor — His  contest  with 
Miaritonomo,  and  result — Subsequent  wars  and  quarrels  with 
various  tribes  and  chiefs — Assistance  rendered  him  by  the  Eng 
!ish — Complaints  brought  against  him  to  them — His  Christianity 
considered — His  morality — Evidence  of  his  fraud,  falsehood, 
violence,  tyranny,  ambition — His  services,  and  those  of  his  tribe 
to  the  English — Manner  in  which  he  met  the  accusations  mado 
against  him — Cunning  and  servility — His  treatment  of  neighbor 
ing  sachems — Various  negotiations  with  the  English — His  death 
—Fate  of  his  tribe.  266 

CHAP.  XV.— Indians  who  submitted  to  Massachusetts— The  Gor 
tonists — POMHAM,  Sachem  of  Shaomet,  and  SACONOCO  complaii 
of  them — Submit  to  the  Government — Their  examination  and 
entertainment — Policy  of  Massachusetts  in  the  case  of  Pomham 
— He  and  Saconoco  much  harassed  by  their  neighbors— Subse 
quent  history — Pomham  takes  part  in  Philip's  war,  and  is  killed 
— CANO!»CHET,  son  of  Miantonomo — His  agreement  of  October, 
1675 — WEKTAMORK,  Squaw-Sachem  of  Pocasset — Canonchet's  ca 
reer  during  Philip's  war — Particulars  of  his  surprisal  and  death — 
His  character — Anecdotes — His  reputation  with  the  English — 
Defence  of  his  conduct.  .......  295 

CHAP.  XVI.— Account  of  the  Pawtucket  confederacy  in  New 
Hampshire — PASSACOH AWAY,  their  Chief  Sachem — He  is  disarm 
ed  by  order  of  the  Massachusetts  Government.  His  residence, 
age  and  authority — He  maintains  a  good  understanding  with  the 
English — Visits  Boston — The  Apostle  Elliot's  acquaintance  with, 
and  notice  of  him — His  views  of  Christianity — Festival,  and 
Farewell  spe*ch  to  his  tribe  in  1660 — Death  and  character—  Hia 
•on  and  successor,  WOKOLAWSET.  Anecdotes  of  the  family — 
Legend  of  Passaconaway's  feats  as  a  Powah  -  -  314 


INDIAN   BIOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Indian  tribes  of  Virginia  at  the  date  of  the  Jamestown 
settlement:  their  names,  numbers  and  power — The  Pow- 
hatan  confeieracy — The  Indian  Village  of  that  name — 
POWHATAN — The  circumstances  of  the  first  interview  be 
tween  him  and  the  English — OPECHANCANOUGH,  his 
brother — Opitchipan — Reception  of  Captain  Smith  by  Pow- 
hatan — Interposition  of  POCAHONTAS  in  his  favor — Second 
visit  of  the  colonists — Third  visit,  and  coronation — Enter 
tainment  of  Smith  by  Pocahontas — Contest  of  ingenuity 
between  Powhatan  and  Smith  :  and  between  the  latter  and 
Opechancanough — Smith  saved  again  by  Pocahontas — Politi 
cal  manoeuvres  of  Powhatan  and  Opechancanough — Smith's 
return  to  Jamestown. 

AT  the  date  of  the  first  permanent  settlement 
effected  within  the  limits  of  Virginia,  and  for  an  un 
known  period  previous  to  that  date,  the  country  from 
the  sea-coast  to  the  Alleghany,  and  from  the  most 
southern  waters  of  James  river  to  Patuxent  river 
(now  in  the  state  of  Maryland)  was  occupied  by  three 
principal  native  nations.  Each  of  these  nations  waa 
a  confederacy  of  larger  or  smaller  trbes;  and  each 
tribe  was  subdivided  into  towns,  families  or  clans, 
who  lived  together.*  The  three  general  names  by 
which  these  communities  have  been  ordinarily 
known,  are  the  Mannahoacks,  the  Monacans  and 
the  Powhatans. 

*  Jefferson's  Notes  on  Virginia.     The  author  has  af  parently 
ntended  to  use  the  word  family  in  its  most  enlarged  sense 

L— B 


10  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

Of  these,  the  two  former  might  be  called  highland 
or  mountain  Indians.  They  all  lived  upon  the  banks 
of  the  various  small  streams  which  water  the  hilly 
country  between  the  falls  of  the  Atlantic  rivers  and 
the  Alleghany  ridge.  The  Mannahoacks  consisted 
of  eight  tribes,  five  of  which  were  located  between 
the  Potomac  and  Rappahannoc,  and  three  between 
the  last  named  river  and  the  York.  Of  the  five 
tribes  of  the  Monacans,*  two  were  between  the  York 
and  James,  and  three  extended  southward  from  the 
James  to  the  boundaries  of  Carolina.  The  most 
powerful  respectively  of  the  eight  and  of  the  five — 
the  Mannahoacks  and  the  Monacans,  properly  so 
called — seem  to  have  given  their  own  names  to  the 
entire  nation  or  confederacy  of  which  they  were 
members.  The  former  tribe  occupied  chiefly  what 
are  now  Stafford  and  Spotsylvania  counties.  The 
latter  resided  upon  James  river  above  the  falls. 

The  Powhatan  nation  inhabited  the  lowland  tract, 
extending  laterally  from  the  ocean  to  the  falls  of  the 
rivers,  and  from  Carolina  on  the  south  to  the  Pa- 
tuxent  on v  the  north.  This  comprised  a  much  larger 
number  of  tribes  than  either  of  the  others.  As 
many  as  ten  of  them  (including  the  Tauxenenta, 
whose  chief  residence  was  about  Mount  Vernon) 
were  settled  between  the  Potomac  and  Rappahan- 
noc.f  Five  others  extended  between  the  Rappahan 
ooc  and  York  ;  eight  between  the  York  and  James 
and  five  between  the  James  and  the  borders  of  Caro 
lina.  Beside  these,  the  Accohanocks  and  Acco- 
macks,  on  what  is  called  the  Eastern  Shore  (of 
Chesapeake  Bay)  have  also  been  considered  a  part 
of  this  nation. 

*  It  may  be  well  to  take  this  occasion  of  observing,  that  the 
author's  only  rule  in  the  orthography  of  Indian  term  has  been 
to  follow  what  appears  to  be  the  most  approved  usage.  Stith 
itses  Manakins,  instead  of  Monacans. 

t  Both  these  rivers  have  derived  their  names  from  the  tribe* 
originally  settled  on  them.  The  former  have  been  commonly 
called  the  Patowomekes. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  J  1 

The  territory  occupied  by  the  whole  of  this  great 
confederacy,  south  of  the  Potomac,  comprehended 
about  8,000  square  miles.  Smith  tells  us  in  his  his 
tory,*  that  within  sixty  miles  of  Jamestown  were  5,000 
natives,  of  whom  1,500  were  warriors.  Mr.  Jefferson 
has  computed  the  whole  number  of  Powhatan  war 
riors  at  2,400,  which,  according  to  the  proportions 
between  Smith's  estimates  (being  three  to  ten)  would 
give  an  entire  population  of  8,000,  or  one  to  each 
square  mile. 

This  calculation  is  probably  quite  moderate  enough. 
It  would  leave  an  average  of  less  than  one  hundred 
warriors  to  each  of  the  thirty  tribes.  But  we  find  it  re 
corded  by  an  early  writer,  that  three  hundred  appear 
ed  under  an  Indian  chieftain  in  one  body  at  one  time, 
and  seven  hundred  at  another ;  all  of  whom  were  ap 
parently  of  his  own  tribe.  The  Chickahominies  alone 
had  between  three  hundred  and  four  hundred  fight 
ing  men.  The  Nansamonds  and  Chesapeaks  showed 
on  one  occasion  a  force  of  four  hundred.  And  when 
Smith  ascended  the  Potomac,  in  June  1(308,  though 
he  saw  no  inhabitants  for  the  first  thirty  miles,  he 
had  scarcely  entered  "a  little  bayed  creeke  towards 
Onawmanient  (now  Nominy)  when  he  found  all  the 
woods  roundabout  layd  with  ambuscadoes  to  the 
number  of  three  or  four  thousand  Savages,  so  strange 
ly  paynted,  grimmed  and  disguised,  shouting,  yelling 
and  crying  as  so  many  spirits  from  hell  could  not 
have  shewed  more  terrible." 

It  is  well  known  that  the  valiant  Captain  was 
wont  to  express  his  opinions  in  strong  terms,  but  he 
has  rarely  been  detected  in  any  great  inaccuracy. 
And  the  circumstances  of  this  case  are  in  his  favor: 
for  it  has  been  truly  remarked,  that  the  Powhatan  con 
federacy  inhabited  a  country  upon  which  nature  had 

*  A  work  of  which  the  value  is  well  known  to  all  readers 
of  tHe  early  American  history.  The  title  is — "The  Trve 
Travels,  Ad  ventures  and  Observations  of  Captaine  lohn  Smith 
in  Europe,  Asia,  Africke  and  America,  beginning  about  the 
yeere  1593,  and  continued  to  this  present  1629."  We  copy 
from  the  London  edition  of  the  date  last  named. 


12  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

bestowed  singular  advantages.  Unlike  the  natives  of 
more  northern  regions,  they  suffered  little  from  cold, 
and  less  from  famine.  Their  settlements  were  most 
ly  on  the  banks  of  James,  Elizabeth,  Nansamond, 
York  and  Chickahominy  rivers,  all  which  abounded 
with  the  most  delicious  fish  and  fowl.  In  his  Poto 
mac  expedition,  Smith  met  with  "  that  aboundance  of 
fish,  lying  so  thicke  with  their  heads  above  the  water, 
as  for  want  of  nets,  (our  barge  driving  amongst 
them)  we  attempted  to  catch  them  with  a  frying-pan" 
And  though  the  captain  naturally  enough  concluded, 
after  some  trials,  that  this  was  a  poor  instrument  for 
hin  purpose,  he  persists  in  adding  that  "  neither  better 
tish,  more  plentie,  nor  more  varietie  for  small  fish,  had 
any  of  vs  euer  scene  in  any  place  so  swimming  in  the 
water — but  they  are  not  to  be  caught  with  frying- 
pans."  He  found  the  stingrays  in  such  abundance 
among  the  reeds  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rappahannoc, 
that  he  amused  himself  by  nailing  them  to  the 
ground  with  his  sword :  "  and  thus,"  he  observes,  "  we 
tooke  more  in  owne  houre  than  we  could  eate  in  a  day." 
Vast  quantities  of  corn,  too,  yearly  rewarded  even 
the  simple  agriculture  of  the  Indians,  bestowed  as  it 
was  upon  the  best  portions  of  a  generous  soil.  "  Great 
heapes  "  of  it  were  seen  at  Kekoughtan,  "  and  then 
they  brought  him  venison,  turkies,  wild  fowle,  bread 
and  what  else  they  had."  In  none  of  his  captivities 
or  his  visits  among  the  natives,  did  the  captain  evei 
suffer  from  want  of  food  ;  and  he  often  brought  off 
his  boat  and  his  men  laden  with  plenty.  The  Nan 
samonds  gave  him  400  baskets-full  at  one  time.  The 
Chickahominies,  though  they  complained  extremely 
of  their  own  wants,  yet  "  fraughted"  him  with 
hundred  bushels.  The  woods  furnished  anothe! 
inexhaustible  supply  both  of  fruits  and  game :  so  tha^ 
on  the  whole,  it  is  very  easy  to  believe,  that  a  con 
siderably  greater  population  than  Mr.  Jefferson's  esti 
mate  supposes,  might  have  subsisted  without  much 
difficulty  on  the  soil  they  are  known  to  have  occupied. 
**  And  now  the  winter  [of  1607 — 8]  approaching,"  we 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  If? 

are  in  formed  in  another  passage,  "the  rivers  became 
so  covered  with  swans,  geese,  duckes  and  cranes,  that 
we  daily  feasted  with  good  bread,  Virginia  pease, 
pumpions  and  putchamins,*  fish,  finvle,  and  diverse 
sorts  of  wild  beasts,  so  fat  as  we  could  eate  them ;  so 
that  none  of  our  Tuftaffaty  humourists  desired  to  go 
for  England."  On  one  occasion,  when  Smith  under 
took  an  exploring  tour  into  the  interior,  late  in  the 
season,  a  violent  storm  obliged  him  and  his  men  to 
keep  Christmas  among  the  savages.  "And  we  were 
never  more  merry,"  he  relates,  "nor  fed  on  more 
plenty  of  good  oysters,  fish,  flesh,  wild  fowle  and 
good  bread,  nor  ever  had  better  fires  in  England."  In 
a  peaceful  interval  of  a  few  months,  which  occurred 
during  the  next  season,  the  Indians  are  said  to  have 
brought  into  Jamestown  more  than  a  hundred  deer 
and  other  beasts  daily  for  several  weeks. 

It  is  evident,  at  least,  that  the  Powhatan  confederacy 
must  have  been  among  the  most  numerous  on  the 
continent.  It  was  warlike  too  ;  and  though  the  situa 
tion  of  the  Monacans  and  Mannahoacks  among  the 
hills  of  the  back  country  protected  them  in  some 
measure,  yet  nothing  but  a  union  of  these  two  nations 
could  assure  them  of  security  against  their  more 
powerful  neighbors  on  the  coast. 

The  Powhatans  proper,  who  gave  their  own  appel 
lation  to  the  confederacy  of  which  they  were  lead 
ing  members,  were  located  in  what  is  now  Henrico 
county,  on  the  banks  of  the  James  river,  and  at  the 
distance  of  about  two  days'  journey  from  the  English 
settlement  at  its  mouth.  T-he  principal  chief— or 
emperor,  as  the  old  historians  style  him — of  the  thirty 
tribes  of  the  nation,  was  found  by  the  first  colonists 
residing  with  these  Indians,  and  is  believed  to  have 
been  one  of  their  number  by  birth.  His  proper  name 

*  A  species  of  indigenous  plum,  which  is  elsewhere  described 
as  growing  to  a  considerable  height,  with  fruit  like  a  medlar, 
first  green,  then  yellow,  and  red  when  ripe.  "  If  it  be  no! 
ripe,  it  will  draw  a  man's  mouth  awry  with  much  torment.  H 
ripe,  it  is  delicious  as  an  apricot." 


14  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

was  Wahunsonacook.  He  had  that  of  POWHATA^ 
by  which  he  has  been  generally  designated,  from  the 
town  so  called,  which  was  the  chief  seat  and  metrop 
olis  of  his  hereditary  dominions.  This  town  is  de 
scribed  as  pleasantly  situated  on  a  hill.  It  consisted 
of  twelve  houses,  in  front  of  which  were  three  islets 
in  the  river,  not  far  from  what  in  modern  times  has 
been  called  Mayo's  plantation,  and  a  little  below  the 
spot  where  Richmond  now  stands.  It  was  considered 
by  the  English  both  the  strongest  and  pleasantest 
place  in  the  whole  country  ;*  and  was  consequently 
named  Nonsuch,  it  seerns,  about  two  years  after  the 
settlement  at  Jamestown,  when  it  was  purchased  of 
the  emperor  by  Smith.  "  The  place  is  very  pleasant," 
says  the  captain  in  his  history,  "  and  strong  by  nature, 
and  about  it  are  many  cornfields." 

The  occasion  of  the  first  acquaintance  which  the 
colonists  had  with  Powhatan  was  as  follows.  The 
adventurous  and  ambitious  spirit  of  Smith  had 
prompted  him  to  make  several  journeys  and  voyages 
along  the  Virginia  coast,  and  into  the  interior  of  the 
country.  Within  a  few  months  after  the  settlement 
of  Jamestown,  among  other  tribes  he  discovered  the 
Chickahominies,  and  procured  a  large  quantity  of 
provision  from  them  at  a  time  when  the  colonists 
were  in  great  need  of  it. 

But  with  the  idle  and  unruly  in  the  colony,  this 
good  fortune  served  only  to  produce  murmuring. 
They  complained  of  his  having  done  so  little  instead 
of  applauding  him  for  having  done  so  much ;  and 
some  even  of  the  council  undertook  to  say,  that  he 
ought  to  have  followed  up  the  Chickahominy  river 
to  its  source. 

Smith  was  not  a  man  to  submit  tamely  to  reproach. 
rie  set  off  again,  therefore,  in  the  winter  of  1607 — 8, 
taking  with  him  a  crew  sufficient  to  manage  a  barge 
and  a  smaller  boat  proper  for  the  navigation  of  the 
upper  streams.  He  ascended  the  Chickahominy  with 

*  Stith's  History,  p.  105. 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY  15 

ihe  barge,  as  far  as  it  could  be  forced  up,  by  dint  of 
great  labor  in  cutting  away  trees  and  clearing  a  pas 
sage.  Then  leaving  it  in  a  broad  bay  or  cove,  out 
of  reach  of  the  savages  on  the  banks,  the  captain, 
with  two  other  whites,  and  two  friendly  Indians, 
proceeded  higher  up  in  the  smaller  boat.  Those 
who  were  left  meanwhile  in  possession  of  the  barge, 
were  ordered  on  no  occount  to  go  on  shore  until  his 
return.  The  order  was  disobeyed ;  for  he  was 
scarcely  out  of  sight  and  hearing,  when  the  whole  of 
the  crew  went  ashore.  They  were  very  near  forfeit 
ing  their  lives  for  their  rashness.  The  Indians,  to  the 
number  of  two  or  three  hundred,  lay  wait  for  them 
among  the  woods  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  under  the 
direction  of  OPECHANCANOUGH,  Sachem  of  the  Pa- 
munkies  and  reputed  brother  of  Powhatan.  One 
George  Cassen  was  taken  prisoner ;  and  the  savages 
soon  compelled  him  to  tell  them  which  way  Smith 
had  gone.  They  then  put  him  to  death  in  a  cruel 
manner,  and  continued  the  pursuit. 

The  captain,  meanwhile,  little  dreaming  of  any 
accident,  had  gone  twenty  miles  up  the  river,  and 
was  now  among  the  marshes  at  its  source.  Here 
his  pursuers  came  suddenly  upon  the  two  English 
men,  who  had  hauled  up  their  boat,  and  lain  down  to 
sleep  by  a  fire  on  the  dry  land,  (while  Smith  himself 
went  out  some  distance  to  kill  game  with  his  musket 
for  a  supper.)  The  unfortunate  wretches  were  shot 
full  of  arrows  and  despatched.  The  savages  then 
pressed  on  after  Smith,  and  at  last  overtook  him. 
Finding  himself  beset  by  the  multitude,  he  coolly 
bound  to  his  arm,  with  his  garters,  the  young  Indian 
who  had  attended  him  as  guide,  for  a  buckler — (what 
had  become  of  the  other,  does  not  appear) — and  re 
ceived  the  enemy's  onset  so  briskly  with  his  fire 
arms,  that  he  soon  laid  three  of  them  dead  on  the 
spot,  and  wounded  and  galled  many  others  so  effect 
ually  that  none  appeared  anxious  to  approach  him. 
He  was  himself  wounded  slightly  in  the  thigh,  and 
had  many  arrows  sticking  in  his  clothes;  but  he  stil 


16  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

kept  the  enemy  at  bay.  His  next  movement  was  to 
endeavor  to  sheer  off  to  his  boat ;  but  taking  more 
notice  of  his  foe  than  his  path,  as  he  went,  he  su<l 
denly  slipped  up  to  his  middle  in  an  oozy  creek. 
Hampered  as  he  was  in  this  awkward  position,  not 
an  Indian  dared  venture  near  him,  until,  finding  him 
self  almost  dead  with  cold,  he  threw  away  his  arms 
and  surrendered.  Then  drawing  him  out,  they 
carried  him  to  the  fire  where  his  men  had  been  slain, 
carefully  chafed  his  benumbed  limbs,  and  finally  re 
stored  him  to  the  use  of  them. 

The  incidents  of  the  ensuing  scene  are  a  striking 
illustration  both  of  the  sagacity  of  the  prisoner  and 
the  simplicity  of  his  captors.  He  called  for  their 
chief — through  the  intervention  of  his  Indian  guide, 
we  suppose — and  Opechancanough  came  forward. 
Smith  presented  him  with  a  round  ivory  double 
compass-dial,  which  he  had  carried  at  his  side.  The 
savages  were  confounded  by  the  playing  of  the  fly 
and  needle,  especially  as  the  glass  prevented  them 
from  touching  what  they  could  see  so  plainly.  He 
then  gave  them  a  sort  of  astronomical  lecture,  de 
monstrating  "by  that  Globe-like  Iewell,"as  he  calls 
it,  the  roundness  of  the  earth,  the  skies,  the  sphere  of 
the  sun,  moon  and  stars  ;  "  and  how  the  sunne  did 
chase  the  night  round  about  the  world  continually  ; 
the  greatnesse  of  the  land  and  sea,  the  diversitie  of 
nations,  varietie  of  complexions,  and  how  we  were  to 
them  antipodes,  and  many  other  such  like  matters," 
his  tawny  auditors  standing  all  the  while  motionless 
and  dumb  with  amazement. 

But  within  about  an  hour  they  returned  to  their 
original  purpose  of  killing  him,  as  they  had  killed 
three  of  his  comrades.  He  was  tied  to  a  tree,  and 
the  savages  drew  up  in  a  circle  to  shoot  him.  The 
arrow  was  already  laid  upon  a  hundred  bows.  But 
at  this  moment  Opechancanough  held  up  the  com 
pass.  This  was  a  signal  of  delay,  if  not  of  mercy, 
and  they  threw  by  their  arms  at  once.  With  great 
exultation  and  parade  they  then  conducted  the  cap- 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPH1  17 

Qve  to  Orapakes,  a  hunting-residence  of  Pownatau, 
lying  on  the  north  side  of  Chickahominy  swamp, 
and  much  frequented  hy  that  Sachem  and  his  family, 
on  account  of  the  abundance  of  game  it  afforded. 
The  order  of  procession  was  a  proper  Indian  fde. 
Opechancanough,  marching  in  the  centre,  had  the 
English  swords  and  muskets  carried  before  him  as  a 
trophy.  Next  followed  Smith,  led  by  three  stout 
savages  who  held  him  fast  by  the  arm ;  while  on  either 
side  six  more  marched  in  file,  with  their  arrows 
notched,  as  flank-guards. 

On  arriving  at  Orapakes,  a  village  consisting  of 
some  thirty  to  forty  mat-houses,  the  women  and  chil 
dren  flocked  out  to  gaze  at  a  being  so  different  from 
any  they  had  ever  before  seen.  The  warriors,  on  the 
other  hand,  immediately  beg«m  a  grand  war-dance, 
the  best  description  of  which  is  in  Smith's  own  lan 
guage.  "  A  good  time  they  continued  this  exercise, 
and  then  cast  themselues  in  a  ring  dauncing  in  such 
severall  postures,  and  singing  arid  yelling  out  such 
hellish  notes  and  screeches  ;  being  strangely  paynted, 
^very  one  his  quiver  of  arrowes,  and  at  his  backe  a 
club ;  on  his  arme  a  fox  or  an  otter's  skinne,  or  some 
such  matter  for  a  vambrace  ;  their  heads  and  shoul 
ders  paynted  red,  with  oyle  and  pocones  *  mingled 
together,  which  scarlet-like  color  made  an  exceeding 
handsome  shew  ;  his  bow  in  his  hand,  and  the  skinne 
of  a  bird  with  her  wings  abroad  dryed,  tyed  on  his 
head  ;  a  peece  of  copper,  a  white  shell,  a  long  feather,' 
with  a  small  rattle  growing  at  the  tayls  of  their 
Hiiaks  tyed,  or  some  such  like  toy."  Thrice  the 
performers  stopped  to  take  breath,  and  thrice  they 
renewed  the  dance — Smith  and  the  Sachem  mean 
while  standing  in  the  centre.  The  company  then 
broke  up ;  and  the  prisoner  was  conducted  to  a 

*  A  small  root  which  turned  red  by  being  dried  and  beat 
into  powder.  It  was  used  also  for  swellings,  aches,  anointing 
the  joints  after  fatigue  and  exposure,  and  painting  garments 
Beverly  calls  it  puccoon. 

10—2 


18  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

long  matted  wigwam,  where  thirty  or  forty  tall  stow 
savages  remained  about  him  as  a  guard.  Ere  long, 
more  bread  and  venison  was  brought  him  than  would 
have  served  twenty  men.  "  I  thinke,"  says  the  cap 
tain  himself,  "hisstomacke  at  that  time  was  not  very 
good."  He  ate  something,  however,  and  the  re 
mainder  was  put  into  baskets,  and  swung  from  the 
roof  of  the  wigwam  over  his  head. 

About  midnight  these  liberal  provisioners  set  their 
fare  before  him  again,  never  tasting  a  morsel  them 
selves  all  the  while.  But,  in  the  morning,  when  they 
brought  in  a  fresh  reinforcement,  they  ate  the  frag 
ments  of  former  meals,  and  swung  up  the  residue 
of  the  last  one  as  before.  So  little  reason  had  the 
captain  to  complain  of  famine,  that  he  began  seriously 
to  believe  they  were  fatting  him  for  the  slaughter. 
He  suffered  occasionally  from  the  cold,  and  would 
have  suffered  more  but  for  an  unexpected  relief.  An 
Indian,  named  Mocasseter,  brought  him  his  goune,  as 
Smith  calls  it — perhaps  a  fur  mantle,  or  a  blanket — 
and  gave  it  to  him,  professedly  in  requital  of  certain 
beads  and  toys  which  Smith  had  given  him  at 
Jamestown,  immediately  after  his  arrival  in  Virginia.* 

Two  days  afterwards,  he  was  violently  assaulted, 
and  but  for  his  guard  would  have  been  killed,  by  an 
old  Indian  whose  son  had  been  wounded  in  the 
skirmish  which  took  place  at  his  capture.  They  con 
ducted  him  to  the  death-bed  of  the  poor  wretch, 
.where  he  was  found  breathing  his  last.  Smith  told 
them  he  had  a  kind  of  water  at  Jamestown  which 
might  effect  a  cure,  but  they  would  not  permit  him 
to  go  for  it,  and  the  subject  was  soon  forgotten.  With 
in  a  few  days,  they  began  to  make  great  preparations 
for  assaulting  the  English  Colony  by  surprise.  They 


*  A  fine  illustration  of  that  principle  of  gratitude  which  is 
SLU  proverbially  characteristic  of  the  Indians  as  their  revenge, 
and  for  similar  reasons.  No  favor  is  wasted  upon  them,  and 
BO  injury  or  insult  is  forgiven.  The  anecdote  following  this  is 
thft  text  is  an  instance  in  point 


1NUIAN    BIOuRAPHV.  19 

craved  Smith's  advice  and  assistance  in  that  pro 
ceeding,  offering  him  not  only  life  and  liberty  for 
his  services,  but  as  much  land  for  a  settlement  arid  as 
many  women  for  wives  as  he  wanted — such  an  opin 
ion  had  they  formed  of  his  knowledge  and  prowess. 
He  did  every  thing  in  his  power  to  discourage  their 
design,  by  telling  them  of  the  mines,  the  cannon,  and 
various  other  stratagems  and  engines  of  war,  used  by 
the  English.  He  could  only  succeed  in  prevailing 
upon  several  of  them  to  carry  a  note  for  him  to 
Jamestown,  (under  pretence  of  getting  some  toys,)  in 
which  he  informed  his  countrymen  of  his  own  situa 
tion  and  the  intention  of  the  savages,  and  requested 
them  to  send  him  without  fail  by  the  bearers  certain 
articles  which  he  named.  These  were  to  be  de 
posited  at  a  particular  spot  in  the  woods  near  James 
town.  The  messengers  started  off,  we  are  told,  in  as 
severe  weather  as  could  be  of  frost  and  snow,  and 
arrived  at  Jamestown.  There,  seeing  men  sally  out 
from  the  town  to  meet  them,  as  Smith  had  told  them 
would  be  the  case,  they  were  frightened  and  ran  off. 
But  the  note  was  left  behind ;  and  so  coming  again 
in  the  evening,  they  found  the  articles  at  the  appoint 
ed  place,  and  then  returned  homeward  in  such  haste 
as  to  reach  Orapakes  in  three  days  after  they  had 
left  it. 

All  thoughts  of  an  attack  upon  the  colony  being 
now  extinguished  in  the  astonishment  and  terror  ex 
cited  by  the  feats  of  Smith,  they  proceeded  to  lead 
him  about  the  country  in  show  and  triumph.  First 
they  carried  him  to  the  tribe  living  on  the  Youghta- 
nurid,  since  called  the  Pamunkey  river ;  then  to  the 
Mattaponies,  the  Piankatunks,  the  Nantaughtacunda 
on  the  Rappahannoc,  and  the  Nominies  on  Potomac 
river.  Having  completed  this  route,  they  conducted 
him,  through  several  other  nations,  to  Opechanca- 
nough's  own  habitation  at  Pamunkey ;  where,  with 
frightful  bowlings  and  many  strange  ceremonies, 
they  '  conjured '  him  three  days  in  order  to  ascertain, 
as  they  told  him,  whether  he  intended  them  well  or 


20  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

ill.*  An  idea  may  be  formed  of  these  proceedings, 
which  took  place  under  Opechancanough's  inspec 
tion,  from  the  exercises  for  one  day  as  described  by 
the  captive  himself. 

Early  in  the  morning,  a  great  fire  was  made  in  a 
long  house,  and  mats  spread  upon  each  side  of  it,  on 
one  of  which  the  prisoner  was  seated.  His  body 
guard  then  left  the  house,  "  and  presently  came  skip 
ping  in  a  great  grim  fellow,  all  paynted  over  with 
coale,  mingled  with  oyle ;  and  many  snakes  and  wesels 
ekinnes  stuffed  with  mosse,  and  all  their  tayles  tyed 
together,  so  as  they  met  on  the  croune  of  his  head 
in  a  tassell ;  and  round  about  the  tassell  was  a  coro 
net  of  feathers,  the  skinnes  hanging  round  about  his 
head,  backe  and  shoulders,  and  in  a  manner  covered 
his  face;  with  a  hellish  voyce  and  a  rattle  in  his 
hand,"  This  personage  commenced  his  invocation 
with  a  great  variety  of  gestures,  postures,  grimaces 
and  exclar.  ations ;  and  concluded  with  drawing  a 
circle  of  meal  round  the  fire.  Then  rushed  in  three 
more  performers  of  the  same  description,  their 
bodies  painted  half  red  and  half  black,  their  eyes 
white  and  their  faces  streaked  with  red  patches,  ap 
parently  in  imitation  of  English  whiskers.  These 
three  having  danced  about  for  a  considerable  time, 
made  way  for  three  more,  with  red  eyes,  and  white 
streaks  upon  black  faces.  At  length  all  seated  them 
selves  opposite  to  the  prisoner,  three  on  the  right 
hand  of  the  first  named  functionary  (who  appeared  to 
be  the  chief  priest,  and  ringleader)  and  three  on  the 
left.  Then  a  song  was  commenced,  accompanied 
with  a  violent  use  of  the  rattles ;  upon  which  the 
chief  priest  laid  down  five  wheat-corns^  and  began 
an  oration,  straining  his  arms  and  hands  so  that  he 
perspired  freely,  and  his  veins  swelled.  At  the  con 
clusion,  all  gave  a  groan  of  assent,  laid  down  three 

*  Stith,  p.  53. 

t  An  inadvertency,  we  presume ;  or  the  words  rray  be  used 
rather  loosely  to  signify  what  had  as  yet  no  distinctive  name 
Indian  corn  must  be  meant. 


fNDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  21 

grains  more,  and  renewed  the  song.  This  went 
on  until  the  fire  was  twice  encircled.  Other  cere 
monies  of  the  same  character  ensued,  and  last  of 
all  was  brought  on,  towards  evening,  a  plentiful 
feast  of  the  best  provisions  they  could  furnish  The 
circle  of  meal  was  said  to  signify  their  country, 
the  circles  of  corn  the  bounds  of  the  sea,  and  so  on. 
The  world,  according  to  their  theory,  was  round  and 
flat,  like  a  trencher,  and  themselves  located  precisely 
>n  the  midst. 

After  this,  they  showed  Smith  a  bag  of  gun- 
»owder,  which  had  probably  been  taken  from  the 
»oat,  and  which  they  were  carefully  preserving  till 
\'ie  next  spring,  to  plant  with  their  corn — "  because 
they  would  be  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  that 
*eede."  OPITCHIPAN,  another  brother  of  Powhatan 
— of  whom  we  have  here  the  first  mention — invited 
him  to  his  house,  and  treated  him  sumptuously  ;  but 
no  Indian,  on  this  or  any  other  occasion,  would  eat 
with  him.  The  fragments  were  put  up  in  baskets ; 
and  upon  his  return  to  Opechancanough's  wigwam, 
the  Sachem's  wives  and  their  children  flocked  about 
him  for  their  portions,  "  as  a  due  by  custom,  to  be 
merry  with  such  fragments. " 

At  last  they  carried  him  to  Werowocomoco,  where 
was  Powhatan  himself.  This  residence  of  his,  lay 
on  the  north  side  of  York  river,  in  Gloster  county, 
nearly  opposite  the  mouth  of  Green's  creek  and  about 
twenty  five  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  river.  It 
was  at  this  time  his  favorite  village,  though  after 
wards,  not  coveting  the  near  neighborhood  of  the 
English,  he  retired  to  Orapakes.  Powhatan,  which 
gave  him  his  name,  was  sold  to  the  English  in  1609. 

On  his  arrival  in  the  village,  Smith  was  detained 
until  the  emperor  (as  we  shall  call  him,  for  con 
venience,)  and  his  train  could  prepare  themselves  to 
receive  their  illustrious  captive  in  proper  state  •  and 
meanwhile  more  than  two  hundred  of  these  grim 
courtiers  gathered  about  him  to  satisfy  their  curiosity 
frith  gazing.  He  was  then  introduced  to  the  royal 


22  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

presence,  the  multitude  hailing  him  with  a  tremeii 
dous  shout,  as  he  walked  in.  Powhatan — a  majestic 
and  finely  formed  savage,  with  a  marked  countenance., 
and  an  air  of  haughtiness  sobered  down  into  gravity 
by  a  life  of  sixty  years — was  seated  before  a  fire 
upon  a  seat  something  like  a  bedstead,  and  clothea 
in  an  ample  robe  of  Rarowcun*  skins,  with  all  the 
tails  hanging  over  him.  On  each  side  sat  a  young 
wench  oi  sixteen  or  eighteen  years  old  ;  and  along 
each  wall  of  the  house,  two  rows  of  women  in  the 
rear  and  two  rows  of  men  in  front.  All  had  their 
heads  and  shoulders  painted  red.  Many  had  their 
hair  decked  with  the  white  down  of  birds.  Some 
wore  a  great  chain  of  white  beads  about  their  necks. 
But  no  one  was  without  ornament  of  some  kind. 

Soon  after  Smith's  entrance,  a  female  of  rank, 
said  to  be  the  queen  of  Appamattuck,  was  directed 
to  bring  him  water  to  wash  his  hands ;  and  another 
brought  a  bunch  of  feathers,  to  answer  the  purpose 
of  a  towel.  Having  then  feasted  him  (as  he  ac 
knowledges)  in  the  best  barbarous  manner  they 
could,  a  long  and  solemn  consultation  was  held  to 
determine  his  fate.  The  decision  was  against  him. 
The  conclave  resumed  their  silent  gravity ;  two  great 
stones  were  brought  in  before  Powhatan  ;  and  Smith 
was  dragged  before  them,  and  his  head  laid  upon 
them,  as  a  preparation  for  beating  out  his  brains 
with  clubs.  The  fatal  weapons  were  already  raised, 
and  the  savage  multitude  stood  silently  awaiting  the 
prisoner's  last  moment.  But  Smith  was  not  destined 
thus  to  perish.  POCAHONTAS,  the  beloved  daughtei 
of  Powhatan,  rushed  forward,  and  earnestly  entreat 
ed  with  tears  that  the  victim  might  yet  be  spared. 
The  royal  savage  rejected  her  request,  and  the  exe 
cutioners  stood  ready  for  the  signal  of  death.  She 
knelt,  down,  put  her  arms  about  Smith,  and  laid  her 
head  over  his,  declaring  she  would  perish  with  him 
w  save  him.  The  heart  of  the  stern  Sachem  was 

*  A  variation  of  Racoon,  perhaps. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  22 

at  length  melted.  The  decree  was  reversed  ;  and 
the  prisoner  was  spared  for  the  purpose — as  the  em 
peror  explained  it — of  making  hatchets  for  himself, 
and  bells  and  beads  for  his  daughter.* 

This  was  apparently  a  mere  pretext  for  conceal 
ing  the  emotions  which  he  thought  unworthy  of  his 
name  as  a  warrior,  and  for  preventing  any  jealousy  on 
the  part  of  his  counselors.  And  subsequent  events 
would  lead  to  the  same  conclusion.  He  detained 
his  prisoner  but  two  days.  At  the  end  of  that  time, 
he  caused  him  to  be  conducted  to  a  large  house  in 
the  woods,  and  there  left  alone  upon  a  mat  by  the 
fire.  In  a  short  time,  a  horrible  noise  was  heard 
from  behind  a  wide  mat  which  divided  the  house  : 
and  then  Powhatan,  dressed  in  the  most  fantastic 
manner,  with  some  two  hundred  followers  as  much 
begrimed  and  disguised  as  himself,  came  in  and  told 
Smith  that  now  they  were  friends ;  '  and  presently  he 
should  go  to  Jamestown  to  send  him  two  great  guns 
and  a  grindstone,  for  which  he  would  give  him  the 
country  of  Capahowsick,  and  forever  esteem  him  as 
his  own  son.'  He  was  accordingly  sent  off,  with 
twelve  guides,  to  Jamestown.  The  party  quartered 
in  the  woods  one  night,  and  reached  the  fort  the  next 
morning  betimes.  The  savages  were  handsomely 
entertained  while  they  staid.  Two  demi-culverins 
and  mill-stone  were  shown  them,  with  other  curiosi 
ties.  They  proposed  to  carry  the  former  to  Pow 
hatan  ;  but  finding  them  somewhat  too  heavy,  content 
ed  themselves  with  a  variety  of  lighter  presents.  They 
were  excessively  frightened  by  a  discharge  of  the 

*  This  celebrated  scene  is  preserved  in  a  beautiful  piece  of 
aculpture,  over  the  western  door  of  the  Rotunda  of  the  Capitol 
at  Washington.  The  group  consists  of  five  figures,  represent 
ing  the  precise  moment  when  Pocahontas,  by  her  interposition, 
saved  Smith  from  being  executed.  Smith  is  attired  in  the 
military  dress,  reclining  on  his  elbow,  his  body  extended, 
ready  to  receive  the  death-blow  from  the  war-mace  of  an  Indian 
who  stands  near  his  head.  This  is  the  work  we  believe,  of 
Capellano,  an  Italian  pupil  of  Canova 


24  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

culverins. — Smith,  who  had  political  as  well  as  per 
sonal  motives  in  view,  had  loaded  them  with  stones, 
and  these  he  fired  among  the  boughs  of  a  tree  cover 
ed  with  huge  icicles.  The  effect  may  easily  be  im 
agined. 

During  the  same  winter,  Smith  visited  Powhatan, 
in  company  with  Captain  Newport,  a  gentleman 
newly  arrived  from  England,  who  had  already  sent 
many  presents  to  the  emperor.  Attended  by  a  guard 
of  thirty  or  forty  men,  they  sailed  as  far  as  Werowo- 
moco  the  first  day.  Here  Newport's  courage  failea 
him.  He  was  especially  alarmed  by  the  appearance 
of  various  bridges  they  were  obliged  to  pass  over  in 
crossing  the  streams  ;  for  these  were  so  loosely  made 
of  poles  and  bark,  that  he  took  them  for  traps  set  by 
the  savages.  But  Smith,  with  twenty  men,  leaving  the 
boat,  undertook  to  go  forward  and  accomplish  the 
journey.  He  accordingly  went  on,  and  was  soon 
met  by  two  or  three  hundred  Indians,  who  conducted 
them  into  the  town.  There  Powhatan  exerted  him 
self  to  the  utmost  to  give  him  a  royal  entertainment. 
The  people  shouted  for  joy  to  see  Smith  ;  orations 
were  addressed  to  him ;  and  a  plentiful  feast  provided 
to  refresh  him  after  the  weariness  of  his  voyage.  The 
emperor  received  him,  reclining  upon  his  bed  of 
mats,  his  pillow  of  dressed  skin  lying  beside  him 
with  its  brilliant  embroidery  of  shells  and  beads,  and 
his  dress  consisting  chiefly  of  a  handsome  fur  robe 
"  as  large  as  an  Irish  mantell."  At  his  head  and  feet 
were  two  comely  young  women  as  before  ;  and  along 
the  sides  of  the  house  sat  twenty  other  females,  each 
with  her  head  and  shoulders  painted  red  and  a  great 
chain  of  white  beads  about  her  neck.  "  Before  these 
sat  his  chiefest  men  in  like  order  in  his  arbor-like 
house,  and  more  than  fortie  platters  of  fine  bread 
stood  as  a  guard  in  two  pyles  on  each  side  the  door. 
Foure  or  flue  hundred  people  made  a  guard  behinde 
them  for  our  passage  ;  and  Proclamation  was  made, 
none  vpon  paine  of  death  to  presume  to  doe  vs  any 
wrong  or  discourtesie.  With  many  pretty  discourse 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  26 

to  renew  their  old  acquaintance,  this  great  King  and 
our  captaine  spent  the  time,  till  the  ebbe  left  our  barge 
aground.  Then  renewing  their  feest  with  feates, 
dauncing  and  singing,  and  such  like  mirth,  we  quar 
tered  that  night  with  Powhatan."* 

The  next  day,  Newport,  who  had  thought  better  of 
his  fears,  came  ashore,  and  was  welcomed  in  the  same 
hospitable  style.  An  English  boy,  named  Savage, 
was  given  to  Powhatan  at  his  request ;  and  he  return 
ed  the  favor  by  presenting  Newport  with  an  Indian 
named  Nomontack,  a  trusty  and  shrewd  servant  of 
his  own.  One  motive  for  this  arrangement  was 
probably  the  desire  of  gaining  information  respecting 
the  English  colony.  During  the  three  or  four  days 
more  which  were  passed  in  feasting,  dancing  and 
trading,  the  old  Sachem  manifested  so  much  dignity 
and  so  much  discretion,  as  to  create  a  high  admi 
ration  of  his  talents  in  the  minds  of  his  guests.  In 
one  instance,  he  came  near  offending  them  by  the 
exercise  of  his  shrewdness,  although  that  may  be 
fairly  considered  their  fault  rather  than  his. 

Newport,  it  seems,  had  brought  with  him  a  variety 
of  articles  for  a  barter  commerce — such  as  he  sup 
posed  would  command  a  high  price  in  corn.  And 
accordingly  the  Powhatans,  generally  of  the  lower 
class,  traded  eagerly  with  him  and  his  men.  These, 
however,  were  not  profitable  customers ;  they  dealt 
upon  a  small  scale ;  they  had  not  much  corn  to  spare. 
It  was  an  object  therefore  to  drive  a  trade  with  the 
emperor  himself.  But  this  he  affected  to  decline  and 
despise.  "  Captain  Newport,"  said  he,  "  it  is  not 
agreeable  to  my  greatness  to  truck  in  this  peddling 
manner  for  trifles.  I  am  a  great  Werowance,f  ani 
I  esteem  you  the  same.  Therefore  lay  me  down  all 
your  commodities  together ;  what  I  like  I  will  take, 
and  in  return  you  shall  have  what  I  conceive  to  be 

*  Smith's  History,  Richmond  Edition,  p.  167. 

•f  A  Powhatan  term  of  general  signification,  answering  to  th« 
Northern  Sachem,  the  Basheba  of  Maine,  and  the  English 
Vhitf. 

L— C 


26  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

a  fair  value."  This  proposal  was  inteipreted  to 
Newport  by  Smith,  who  informed  him  at  the  same 
time  of  the  hazard  he  must  incur  in  accepting  it. 
But  Newport  was  a  vain  man,  and  confidently  ex 
pected  either  to  dazzle  the  emperor  with  his  ostenta 
tion,  or  overcome  him  with  his  bounty,  so  as  to  gain 
any  request  he  might  make.  The  event  unluckily 
proved  otherwise.  Powhatan,  after  coolly  selecting 
such  of  Newport's  goods  as  he  liked  best,  valued  his 
own  corn  at  such  a  rate,  that  Smith  says  it  might 
as  well  have  been  purchased  in  old  Spain  ;  they  re 
ceived  scarcely  four  bushels  where  they  had  counted 
upon  twenty  hogsheads. 

It  was  now  Smith's  turn  to  try  his  skill ;  and  he 
made  his  experiment,  more  wisely  than  his  comrade, 
not  upon  the  sagacity  of  the  emperor  but  upon  his 
simplicity.  He  took  out  various  toys  and  gewgaws, 
as  it  were  accidentally,  and  contrived,  by  glancing 
them  dexterously  in  the  light,  to  show  them  to  great 
advantage.  It  was  not  long  before  Powhatan  fixed 
his  observing  eye  upon  a  string  of  brilliant  blue 
beads.  Presently  he  became  importunate  to  ob 
tain  them.  But  Smith  was  very  unwilling  to  part 
with  these  precious  gems ;  they  being,  as  he  observ 
ed,  composed  of  a  most  rare  substance,  of  the  color 
of  the  skies,  and  fit  to  be  worn  only  by  the  greatest 
kings  in  the  world.  The  savage  grew  more  and 
more  eager  to  own  such  jewels,  so  that  finally  a  bar 
gain  was  struck,  to  the  perfect  satisfaction  of  all 
parties,  whereby  Smith  obtained  between  two  and 
three  hundred  bushels  of  corn  for  a  pound  or  two 
of  blue  beads.  A  similar  negotiation  was  immedi 
ately  after  effected  with  Opechancanough  at  Pamun- 
key.  He  was  furnished  with  a  quantity  of  this 
invaluable  jewelry  at  very  nearly  the  same  price  ;  and 
thus  the  beads  grew  into  such  estimation  among  the 
Indians  far  and  near,  that  none  but  the  great  werow- 
ances,  and  their  wives  and  children,  dared  to  be  seen 
wearing  them.  They  were  imperial  symbols  ot 
enormous  value. 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  21 

But  it  was  not  upon  beads  only  that  Powhatan 
set  a  high  estimate.  He  perceived  the  vast  advantage 
which  the  English  possessed  over  his  own  men  in 
their  weapons ;  and  he  became  exceedingly  anxious 
to  place  himself  upon  equal  terms  on  one  side  with 
the  colonists,  while  he  should  domineer  over  the  less 
fortunate  foreign  Indian  tribes,  as  he  liked,  on  the 
other.  When  Newport  left  the  country  for  England, 
he  sent  him  twenty  fine  turkeys,  and  requested  in  re 
turn  the  favor  of  as  many  swords,  which  that  gentle 
man  was  inconsiderate  enough  to  furnish  him.  He 
subsequently  passed  the  same  compliment  to  Smith  ; 
and  when  the  latter  gave  him  no  swords  in  payment, 
he  was  highly  offended,  and  is  said  to  have  ordered 
his  people  to  take  them  wherever  they  could  get  them, 
by  stratagem  or  by  force.  But  Smith  soon  checked 
this  project  in  his  usual  summary  manner ;  and 
Powhatan,  finding  that  game  a  desperate  one,  sent  in 
Pocahonias  with  presents,  to  excuse  himself  for  the 
injury  done  "  by  some  of  his  disorderly  warriors,' 
and  to  desire  that  those  who  were  captive  might 
be  liberated  for  this  time  on  their  good  behavior. 
Smith  punished  them  sufficiently,  and  granted  the 
request  of  the  emperor  '  for  the  sake  of  Pocahontas. 
The  council  were  offended  at  what  they  considered 
his  cruelty  ;  but  Powhatan  affected  at  least  to  be 
satisfied. 

We  hear  of  the  emperor  again  in  September,  (1608,) 
when  Captain  Newport  arrived  with  a  second  sup 


ply  for  the  colony,  and  anew  commission  for  himself! 
By  this  he  was  authorized  to  make  an  exploring  ex 
pedition,  for  gold,  among  the  Monacans  of  the  moun 
tain  country ;  and  a  barge  was  brought  out  from 
England  in  five  pieces,  to  be  carried  over  the  falls, 
and  thence  convey  the  company  to  the  South  Sea. 
Smith  opposed  this  sage  proposal  on  the  ground  of 
the  necessities  of  the  colony  ;  they  were  especially 
in  want  of  provision  to  be  laid  in  for  the  coming 
winter.  But  a  large  majority  were  against  him.  He 
was  even  accused  of  jealousy  towards  Newport;  and 


28  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

the  latter  defeated  all  his  opposition,  as  he  thought, 
by  undertaking  to  procure  a  bark-load  of  corn  from 
Powhatan,  on  his  proposed  route  to  the  South  Sea, 
at  Werowocomoco.  He  required,  however,  that  one 
hundred  and  twenty  men  should  go  with  him  ;  he 
put  no  confidence  in  the  friendship  of  the  emperor 
or  his  subjects. 

Smith  now  came  forward,  and  volunteered  to  carry 
the  necessary  messages  to  Powhatan  himself,  and 
to  invite  him  to  visit  Jamestown,  for  the  purpose  of 
leceiving  the  presents  brought  over  for  him  by  New 
port.  Among  these,  it  appears,  were  a  splendid  ba 
sin  and  ewer,  a  bed,  bedstead,  clothes,  and  various 
other  costly  novelties ;  the  only  effect  of  which  would 
be,  as  Smith  alleged,  to  cause  the  emperor  to  over 
rate  the  importance  of  his  own  favor,  and  to  sell 
for  gold  and  silver  alone  what  he  had  heretofore  sold 
readily  for  copper  and  blue  beads.  Another  of  the 
presents  was  a  royal  crown,  sent  out  by  his  Britannic 
Majesty  King  James  I.  probably  under  the  expecta 
tion  of  wheedling  Powhatan  into  submission  to  his 
own  authority,  and  at  all  events  with  orders  to  con 
secrate  the  "  divine  right"  of  his  royal  ally  in  Virginia 
by  the  ceremonies  of  a  solemn  coronation. 

Smith  took  with  him  four  companions  only,  and 
went  across  the  woods,  by  land,  about  twelve  miles, 
to  Werowocomoco.  Powhatan  was  then  absent,  at 
the  distance  of  twenty  or  thirty  miles.  Pocahontas 
immediately  sent  for  him,  and  meanwhile  she  and 
her  women  entertained  their  visiter  in  a  style  too 
remarkable  to  be  passed  by  without  notice.  A  fire 
was  made  in  a  plain  open  field,  and  Smith  was  seated 
before  it  on  a  mat,  with  his  men  about  him.  Sudden 
ly  such  a  hideous  noise  was  heard  in  the  woods  near 
by,  that  the  strangers  betook  themselves  hastily  to 
their  arms,  and  even  seized  upon  two  or  three  old 
Indians  who  were  standing  near,  under  the  apprehen 
sion  that  Powhatan  with  all  his  forces  was  come  upon 
them  by  surprise.  But  Pocahontas  soon  made  her 
appearance  ;  and  a  little  explanation  convinced  thft 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  2$ 

captain  that,  however  she  might  succeed  or  fail,  her 
only  intention  was  to  gratify  and  honor  him.  He 
mingled  fearlessly  therefore  with  the  Indian  men, 
women  and  children,  already  assembled  as  spectators, 
and  the  ceremonies  went  on. 

"Then  presently  they  were  presented  with  this 
anticke.  Thirtie  young  women  came  naked  out  of 
the  woods,  only  couered  behind  and  before  with  a 
few  greene  leaves  ;  their  bodies  all  paynted,  some  of 
one  colour,  and  some  of  another  but  all  differing. 
Their  leader  had  a  fayre  payre  of  Buck's  homes  on 
her  head,  and  an  Otter's  skinne  at  her  girdle,  another 
at  her  arrne,  a  quiuer  of  arrowes  at  her  backe,  a 
bow  and  arrowes  in  her  hand.  The  next  had  in  her 
hand  a  sword,  another  a  club,  another  a  pot-sticke, 
all  horned  alike ;  the  rest  euery  one  with  their 
severall  devises.  These  fiends,  with  most  hellish 
shouts  and  cryes,  rushing  from  among  the  trees,  caste 
themselves  in  a  ring  about  the  fire,  singing  and 
dauncing  with  the  most  excellent  ill  var'ietie,  oft 
falling  into  their  infernall  passions,  and  solemnly 
again  to  sing  and  daunce.  Having  spent  neer  an 
hour  in  this  mascarado,  as  they  entred,  in  like  man 
ner  they  departed." 

"  Having  reaccomodated  themselves,  they  solemnly 
invited  him  to  their  lodgings,  where  he  was  no  sooner 
within  the  house  but  all  these  nymphs  more  torment 
ed  him  than  euer,  with  crowding,  pressing  and  hang 
ing  about  him,  most  tediously  crying,  Loue  you  not 
me  ?  Loue  you  not  me  ?  This  salutation  ended, 
the  feast  was  set,  consisting  of  all  the  salvage  dainties 
they  could  deuise  ;  some  attending,  others  singing 
and  dauncing  about  them.  This  mirth  being  ended, 
with  fire-brands  instead  of  torches  they  conducted 
him  to  his  lodging. 

Thus  diil  they  show  their  feates  of  armes,  and  others  art  in  dauncing  ; 

Powhatan  arrived  on  the  following  day,  and  Smith 
delivered  his  message,  desiring  him  to  visit  "  his 
father  "  Newport,  at  "Jamestown,  for  the  purpose  of 


30  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

receiving  the  newly  arrived  presents,  and  also  con 
certing  a  campaign  in  common  against  the  Monacans. 
The  subtle  savage  replied  to  this  artful  proposal  with 
his  accustomed  intelligence  and  independence.  "  If 
your  king  has  sent  me  presents,"  said  he  with  great 
composure,  "  I  also  am  a  king,  and  this  is  my  land — 
Here  I  will  stay  eight  days  to  receive  them.  Your 
Father  is  to  come  to  me,  not  I  to  him,  nor  yet  to 
your  fort.  I  will  not  bite  at  such  a  bait.  As  for  the 
Monacans,  I  can  avenge  my  own  injuries.  As  for 
Atquanachuck,  where  you  say  your  brother  was 
slain,  it  is  a  contrary  way  from  those  parts  you 
suppose  it.  And  as  for  any  salt  water  beyond  the 
mountains,  the  relations  you  have  had  from  my  peo 
ple  are  false."  Upon  this  he  began  to  delineate  the 
geography  of  these  various  regions  with  a  stick  upon 
the  ground.  After  some  farther  discourse  upon 
general  and  complimentary  subjects,  Smith  returned 
with  his  answer.  His  servant,  Namontack,  who  had 
been  to  England  with  Newport,  was  given  back  to 
him  upon  this  occasion. 

The  presents  were  sent  round  to  Werowocomoco, 
by  water  ;  and  the  two  captains  went  by  land,  with 
a  guard  of  fifty  men.  The  parties  here  agreed  upon 
the  next  day  for  the  coronation ;  and  at  that  time  the 
presents  were  brought  in,  the  bed  and  furniture  set 
up,  and  the  scarlet  cloak  and  other  apparel  put  on 
the  emperor,  though  with  much  ado,  and  only  in 
consequence  of  Nornantack's  earnest  assurance  that 
they  would  not  injure  him.  As  for  kneeling  to  re 
ceive  the  crown,  which  was  requested  of  him,  he  en 
tirely  exhausted  the  patience  of  his  visiters  by  his  re 
sistance.  They  gained  their  point  in  the  end  by 
stratagem.  One  leaned  hard  upon  his  shoulders,  so 
as  to  cause  him  to  stoop  a  little,  and  three  more  stood 
ready  to  fix  the  royal  gewgaw  on  his  head  ;  where 
upon,  at  the  discharge  of  a  pistol,  the  guard  were 
prepared  with  such  a  volley  of  musketry  as  a  salute, 
that  the  emperor  (now  a  crowned-head  at  least)  started 
up,  as  Smith  says,  in  a  horrible  fear  till  he  saw  all 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY  31 

was  well.  SOOD  recovering  his  composure,  ho  gene- 
rously  gave  his  old  shoes  and  mantle  to  Newport  in 
acknowledgement  of  his  courtesy.  But  perceiving 
that  the  main  object  of  that  gentleman  was  to  discover 
the  Monacans,  he  labored  to  divert  his  resolution, 
and  absolutely  refused  to  lend  any  of  his  own  men 
excepting  Namontack.  Every  thing  was  said  and 
done  civilly,  however  ;  and,  before  leaving,  Newport 
was  presented  with  a  heap  of  corn-ears  to  the 
amount  of  seven  or  eight  bushels,  in  farther  return 
for  his  politeness  and  his  presents. 

For  some  time  after  this,  little  was  heard  of  Pow- 
hatan  except  occasionally  through  the  medium  of 
some  of  his  tribes,  who  are  said  to  have  refused 
trading  with  the  English  in  consequence  of  his  orders 
to  that  effect.  He  had  become  jealous  of  them,  it 
would  seem  ;  and  Smith,  on  the  other  hand,  re 
ciprocated  so  much  of  his  ill  humor,  that  he  at  one 
time  thought  of  falling  upon  him  by  surprise,  and 
taking  away  all  his  stores.  But  appearances  were 
still  kept  up  on  both  sides  ;  and  in  December,  (1608) 
the  emperor  invited  the  captain  to  visit  him — he 
wanted  his  assistance  in  building  a  house,  and  if  he 
would  bring  with  him  a  grindstone,  fifty  swords,  a 
few  muskets,  a  cock  and  a  hen,  with  a  quantity  of 
beads  and  copper,  he  might  depend  upon  getting  a 
ship-load  of  corn.  Smith,  always  ready  for  an  adven 
ture,  accepted  the  invitation,  and  set  off  with  a  pin 
nace  and  two  barges,  manned  by  forty-six  volunteers 
The  expedition  was  considered  so  hazardous  that 
many  excused  themselves  from  going,  after  having 
engaged  to  do  so ;  though  all  knew  that  if  any 
thing  was  to  be  had,  Smith  was  not  the  man  to  return 
disappointed. 

Commencing  his  voyage  on  the  29th  of  the  month, 
with  victualling  for  three  or  four  days,  he  lodged  the 
first  night  at  Warrasqueake.  The  chief  Sachem  at 
this  place,  being  friendly,  did  all  in  his  power  to  dis 
suade  the  captain  from  pursuing  his  journey.  "  Pow- 
hatan  will  use  you  kindly."  said  he,  "  but  he  has  sen. 


32  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

for  you  only  to  cut  your  throat.  Trust  him  not,  and 
give  him  no  opportunity  to  seize  upon  your  arms." 
The  next  night  and  several  more  were  passed  at 
Kekoughtan,  where  the  English  were  detained  by  a 
severe  storm,  but  found  merry  cheer,  and  good  fires. 
The  colonists  who  were  in  the  habit  of  travelling 
with  Smith  had  learned  hardihood.  "  They  were  not 
curious  in  any  weather,  (he  informs  us,)  to  lye  three 
or  foure  nights  together  vnder  the  trees."  They  liked 
hunting  too  as  they  marched,  and  here  was  a  fine 
opportunity;  "an  hundred  fortie  eight  foules,  the 
President,  Anthony  Bagnall,  and  Serieant  Pising  did 
kill  at  three  shoots."  It  was  the  12th  of  January 
when  they  reached  Werowocomoco. 

They  went  ashore,  quartered  without  much  cere 
mony  at  the  first  house  they  found,  and  sent  to 
Powhatan  for  a  supply  of  provisions.  They  were 
promptly  furnished  with  plenty  of  bread,  venison  and 
turkeys.  Their  liberal  host  feasted  them  again  the 
next  day  ;  but  not  without  inquiring,  at  the  close  of 
the  entertainment,  when  they  proposed  to  go  home, 
insinuating  that  the  pleasure  of  their  company  was 
wholly  unexpected,  and  that  he  and  his  people  had 
very  little  corn — though  for  forty  swords  he  thought 
forty  baskets  might  be  collected.  In  reply,  Smith 
asked  if  he  had  forgotten  his  own  invitation  thus 
suddenly ;  and  then  produced  the  messengers  who 
had  carried  it,  and  who  happened  to  be  near  at  hand. 
The  emperor  affected  to  regard  the  affair  as  a  mere 
joke,  and  laughed  heartily.  Smith  then  proposed 
trade;  but  Powhatan  would  take  nothing  but  guns 
and  swords,  and  valued  a  basket  of  corn  higher 
than  a  basket  of  copper.  The  captain  was  nettled, 
and  spoke  his  mind  boldly  and  without  reserve, 
giving  the  emperor  to  understand  withal,  that  neces 
sity  might  force  him  to  use  disagreeable  expedients 
for  relieving  his  own  wants  and  the  need  of  the 
colony. 

Powhatan  listened  to   this  declaration   with  coo 
gravity,  and  replied  with  a  corresponding  frankness 


INDIAN  BIOGRAPHY.  35 

u  I  will  spare  you  what  I  can,"  said  he,  "and  that 
within  two  days.  But,  Captain  Smith,  I  have  some 
doubts  as  to  your  object  in  this  visit.  I  arn  informed 
that  you  wish  to  conquer  more  than  to  trade,  and  at 
all  events  you  know  my  people  must  be  afraid  to 
come  near  you  with  their  corn,  so  long  as  you  go 
armed  and  with  such  a  retinue.  Lay  aside  your 
weapons,  then.  Here  they  are  needless.  We  are  all 
friends,  all  Powhatans."  The  information  alluded 
to  here  was  probably  gathered  from  two  or  three 
Germans,  who  had  deserted  the  colony  and  gone 
among  the  Indians. 

A  great  contest  of  ingenuity  now  ensued  between 
the  Englishman  and  the  savage — the  latter  appa 
rently  endeavoring  to  temporise  only  for  the  purpose 
of  putting  the  former  and  his  men  off  their  guard. 
He  especially  insisted  on  the  propriety  of  laying 
aside  their  arms.  "Captain  Smith,"  he  continued, 
"  I  am  old,  and  I  know  well  the  difference  between 
peace  and  war.  I  wish  to  live  quietly  with  you,  and 
1  wish  the  same  for  my  successors.  Now  the  rumors 
which  reach  me  on  all  hands  make  me  uneasy. 
What  do  you  expect  to  gain  by  destroying  us  who 
provide  you  with  food  ?  And  what  can  you  get  by 
war,  if  we  escape  you  and  hide  our  provisions  in  the 
woods  ?  We  are  unarmed  too,  you  see.  Do  you 
believe  me  such  a  fool  as  not  to  prefer  eating  good 
meat,  sleeping  quietly  with  my  wives  and  children, 
laughing  and  making  merry  with  you,  having  copper 
arid  hatchets  and  any  thing  else — as  your  friend — to 
flying  from  you  as  your  enemy,  lying  cold  in  the 
woods,  eating  acorns  and  roots,  and  being  so  hunted 
by  you  meanwhile,  that  if  but  a  twig  break,  my  men 
will  cry  out  there  comes  Captain  Smith.  Let  us  be 
friends,  then.  Do  not  invade  us  thus  with  such  an 
armed  force.  Lay  aside  these  arms." 

The  captain  answered  this  speech,  and  several 
others  to  the  same  effect,  until,  either  seeing  or  sup 
posing  that  the  emperor's  object  was  hostile,  he  gave 
secret  orders  for  hauling  his  boatashor*1  through  the 
10—3 


34  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

ice,  and  landing  those  of  his  company  who  still  re 
mained  aboard.  He  also  attempted  to  detain  Pow- 
hatan  with  the  delivery  of  divers  rigmarole  harangues', 
but  the  latter  was  not  to  be  so  easily  outwitted.  He 
introduced  two  or  three  women  to  sustain  a  si  arp 
conversation  with  the  enemy,  and  suddenly  availed 
himself  of  that  opportunity  to  leave  the  house,  with 
all  his  attendants  and  luggage.  In  a  few  minutes 
Smith  found  himself  surrounded  with  Indians  ;  and 
thereupon,  we  are  told,  "  with  his  pistoll,  sword  and 
target,  hee  made  such  a  passage  among  these  naked 
Diuils,  that  at  his  first  shoot  those  next  him  tumbled 
one  over  another."  The  rest  fled  in  all  directions. 

Powhatan  was  not  yet  discouraged.  His  men 
again  flocked  about  Smith  with  civil  explanations  of 
every  thing  which  had  happened  ;  and  he  himself 
sent  him  a  large  and  handsome  bracelet  by  the  hand 
of  one  of  his  chief  orators,  with  a  speech  full  of 
compliments  and  excuses.  Baskets  were  furnished 
for  carrying  the  corn  which  had  been  sold  aboard 
the  boat ;  and  the  Indians  even  offered  their  services 
to  guard  the  arms  of  the  Englisli,  while  they  were 
taking  care  of  the  provisions.  This  favor  was  de 
clined;  but  as  the  English  were  still  under  the 
necessity  of  waiting  for  the  tide  of  the  next  morning, 
no  pains  were  spared  to  entertain  them  with  feasts 
and  sports  meanwhile.  Smith  supposes  that  the 
Sachem  was  all  this  time  preparing  his  forces  for 
surprising  them  at  supper.  He  probably  conjectured 
right;  and  but  for  Pocahontas  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  this  game  would  actually  have  succeeded.  The 
kind-hearted  princess  came  to  Smith's  quarters  in  the 
woods,  alone  and  in  the  evening,  and  earnestly  ad 
vised  him  by  all  means  to  leave  her  father's  territories 
as  soon  as  possible.  The  latter  was  collecting  all  his 
power,  she  said,  to  make  an  assault  upon  him,  unless 
those  who  were  sent  with  his  supper  should  them 
selves  succeed  in  despatching  him. 

In  less  than  an  hour  afterwards  came  eight  or  ten 
lusty  fellows,  with  great  platters  of  venison  andothei 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  3/3 

victuals,  who  were  importunate  that  the  English 
should  extinguish  their  matches,  the  smoke  of  which 
they  affected  to  think  very  disagreeable.  The  cap 
tain,  without  noticing  this  circumstance,  made  them 
taste  every  dish,  and  then  sent  some  of  them  back 
to  tell  Povvhatan  that  the  English  were  ready  to 
see  him  ;  as  for  themselves,  lie  understood  their 
villany,  but  they  should  go  free.  Other  messengers 
came  in  soon  after,  at  intervals,  to  learn  how  matters 
went  on.  The  night  was  spent  without  sleep  on 
either  side.  Each  party  watched  the  movements  of 
the  other  with  vigilant  eyes,  while  both  were  subtle 
and  civil  enough  still  to  affect  friendship.  At  high 
water,  Smith  went  off  with  his  company,  leaving 
with  the  emperor,  at  his  own  request,  an  Englishman 
to  kill  game  for  him,  and  two  or  three  of  the  Ger 
mans  to  assist  him  in  building  a  house. 

But  the  game  was  not  yet  over.  He  had  no  sooner 
set  sail  for  Pamunkey,  than  the  emperor  despatched 
a  deputation  across  the  woods  to  Jamestown,  to  take 
advantage  of  his  absence  for  buying  up  a  quantity  of 
ammunition  and  arms.  On  arriving,  these  messen 
gers  told  Captain  Winne,  the  temporary  commander 
of  the  colony,  "that  their  comming  was  for  some  ex 
traordinary  tooles  and  shift  of  apparell  ;  by  which 
colourable  excuse  they  obtained  sixe  or  seuen  more 
[of  the  colonists]  to  their  confederacie,  such  expert 
cheeues,  that  presently  furnished  them  with  a  great 
many  swords,  pike-heads,  peeces,  shot,  powder  and 
such  like."*  Indians  enough  were  at  hand  to  carry 
away  the  articles  as  soon  as  obtained  ;  and  the  next 
day,  the  deputation  returned  home  unsuspected,  after 
making  an  agreement  for  the  services  of  such  trai 
torous  vagabonds  as  were  willing  to  desert  from  the 
colony.  One  or  two  of  those  who  had  deserted 
already,  had  provided  Powhatan  with  as  many  as 
vhree  hundred  hatchets,  fifty  swords,  eight  'pieces 
and  eight  pikes. 

*  Smith's  History,  p.  213. 


36  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

Meanwhile,  Smith  had  arrived  at  Pamunkey,  and 
here  Opechancanough  was  entertaining  him  with  all 
manner  of  feasting  and  mirth.  On  the  day  agreed 
upon  between  the  parties  for  commencing  trade,  the 
captain,  with  fifteen  of  his  men,  went  up  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  from  the  river  to  the  Sachem's  house, 
the  appointed  rendezvous.  He  found  no  person 
there,  excepting  a  lame  man  and  a  boy.  The  other 
houses  in  the  village  were  entirely  abandoned.  Pres 
ently,  however,  came  the  Sachem,  followed  by  many 
of  his  subjects,  well  armed  with  bows  and  arrows. 
Attempts  were  made  to  buy  corn,  but  so  unsuccessful 
ly  that  Smith  was  provoked,  and  remonstrated  as  he 
had  done  with  Powhatan.  Upon  this,  the  Sachem 
sold  what  provision  was  at  hand,  and  promised  to 
give  better  satisfaction  the  next  day. 

Then,  &ccordingiy,  Smith  made  his  appearance 
again.  He  found  ifour  or  five  men  at  the  house  with 
great  baskets,  but  whether  with  any  thing  in  them 
does  not  appeal.  Opechancanough  himself  came  in 
soon  after,  and  commenced  a  cheerful  conversation, 
enlarging  particularly  upon  the  pains  he  had  taken  to 
keep  his  promise.  Just  at  this  moment  one  of  Smith's 
company  brought  him  word  that  the  house  was  be 
set.  The  woods  and  fields  all  around  him  were 
thronged  with  more  than  seven  hundred  savages, 
armed  and  painted  for  battle. 

The  English,  of  whom  there  were  only  fifteen  on 
shore,  were  generally  much  alarmed  at  this  news, 
and  could  easily  perceive  that  Opechancanough  en 
joyed  their  surprise.  But  Smith  was  now  hi  his 
element.  "My  worthy  countrymen,"  said  he  to  his 
trembling  comrades,  "  Had  I  no  more  to  fear  from 
my  friends,  than  from  these  enemies,  I  should  be 
willing  to  meet  twice  as  many — would  you  but  second 
me.  But  what  course  shalf  be  taken?  If  we  begin 
with  them,  and  seize  the  king,  we  shall  have  more 
than  our  hands  full  to  keep  him  and  defend  our- 
(Jelves.  If  we  kill  them  all,  we  must  starve  for  want 
df  their  provisions.  As  for  their  fury,  that  is  the 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  37 

»east  subject  of  apprehension.  You  know  1  have 
heretofore  managed  two  or  three  hundreds  of  them 
alone.  Now  here  are  sixteen  of  us,  to  their  seven 
hundred.  If  you  dare  stand  but  to  fire  your  pieces, 
the  very  smoke  will  be  enough  for  them.  But  at  all 
events  let  us  fight  like  men,  and  not  die  like  sheep. 
First,  however,  let  me  propose  some  conditions  to 
them,  and  so  we  shall  have  something  to  fight  for.'* 
The  occasion  admitting  of  no  argument,  the  com 
pany  pledged  themselves  promptly  to  second  him  in 
whatever  he  attempted,  or  die. 

The  captain  then  advanced  towards  the  Sachern, 
and  addressed  him.  "  Opechaneariough,"  said  he, 
"  I  perceive  you  are  plotting  to  murder  me,  but  I  fear 
you  not.  As  yet  neither  your  men  nor  mine  have 
done  much  harm.  Now  therefore  take  your  arms — • 
as  you  see  here  are  mine — my  body  shall  be  as  naked 
as  yours — the  island  in  the  river  is  a  fit  place  for  a 
combat,  and  the  conqueror  of  us  two,  shall  be  mas 
ter  of  all.  If  you  have  not  men  enough  about  you, 
take  time  to  muster  more — as  many  as  you  will — 
only  let  every  one  bring  his  basket  of  corn,  and 
against  that  I  will  stake  the  value  in  copper." 

The  Sachem  replied  very  soothingly  to  this  pro 
posal.  He  was  sorry  to  see  any  suspicion  of  unkind- 
ness  ;  and  begged  that  the  captain  would  do  him  the 
honor  to  accept  a  handsome  present,  (by  way  of  peace- 
offering,)  which  was  ready  for  him  at  the  door  of  the 
house.  The  object  of  this  suggestion  was  sufficiently 
obvious ;  for  besides  the  forty  or  fifty  Indians  con 
stituting  the  Sachem's  body-guard  within,  "  the  bait,' 
as  Smith  calls  it,  at  the  door,  (meaning  the  present) 
was  guarded  by  about  two  hundred  men,  and  thirty 
more  were  stationed  behind  a  large  tree  which  lay 
lengthwise  athwart  the  passage-way  with  their  arrows 
ready  notched.  It  was  now  Smith's  turn  to  make  a 
movement.  He  seized  the  Sachem  hi  the  midst  of 
his  retinue,  by  his  long  locks,  presenting  a  pistol 
ready-cocked  at  his  bosom  ;  and  in  this  position  led 
him  out  trembling  with  terror,  among  the  multitude 


38  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

who  surrounded  the  house.  He  immediately  gave 
up  his  vambrace,  bow  and  arrows,  and  his  frightened 
subjects  hastened  to  follow  his  example. 

"I  perceive,  ye  Pamunkies" — shouted  the  captain 
at  this  moment,  still  holding  on  by  the  Sachem's 
hair — "  I  perceive  how  eager  ye  are  to  kill  me.  My 
own  long  suffering  is  the  cause  of  your  insolence. 
Now  shoot  but  one  arrow  to  shed  one  drop  of  blood 
for  one  of  these  men,  or  steal  but  the  least  of  these 
beads,  and  ye  shall  not  hear  the  last  of  me  so  long 
as  a  Pamunkey  remains  alive  who  will  not  deny  the 
name.  I  am  not  now  in  the  mire  of  a  swamp,  ye 
perceive.  Shoot  then,  if  ye  dare.  But  at  all  haz 
ards  ye  shall  load  my  boat  with  your  corn,  or  I  will 
load  her  with  your  carcasses.  Still,  unless  you  give 
me  the  first  occasion,  we  may  be  friends,  and  your 
king  may  go  free.  1  have  no  wish  to  harm  him  or 
you." 

This  speech  had  its  effect.  The  savages  laid  aside 
their  arms,  and  brought  in  their  commodities  for 
trade  in  such  abundance,  that  the  English  at  length 
became  absolutely  weary  of  receiving  them.  Once 
indeed,  in  the  course  of  the  day,  some  forty  or  fifty 
stout  fellows  made  a  violent  rush  into  the  house 
when  Smith  was  asleep,  and  some  two  hundred 
more  followed  close  after  them  ;  but  by  Smith's 
usual  activity  they  were  soon  driven  back,  and  then 
the  Sachem  sent  some  of  his  ancients,  or  counsellors, 
to  excuse  the  intrusion.  The  rest  of  the  day  passed  in 
harmony,  and  towards  night  the  captain  began  his 
return-voyage  down  the  river,  leaving  the  Sachem 
at  liberty.  Various  attempts  were  made  to  surprise 
him  on  the  route,  and  he  was  at  one  time  near  being 
poisoned  to  death  in  his  food.  On  the  other  hand, 
Smith  was  determined  not  to  go  home  without  his 
revenge  upon  Powhatan.  He  returned  by  way  of 
Werowocomoco  for  the  purpose  of  seizing  him  ;  but 
he  found,  when  he  reached  that  village,  that  the 
traitorous  Germans  had  caused  the  emperor  to  aban 
don  his  new  house,  and  carry  off  all  his  family  and 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  39 

provision.  Those  of  the  Powhatans  who  remained, 
treated  the  English  so  indifferently,  that  the  latter 
had  much  ado  to  escape  with  their  lives.  They 
finally  reached  Jamestown  after  an  absence  of  six 
weeks,  with  a  cargo  of  four  hundred  and  seventy- 
nine  bushels  of  corn  and  two  hundred  pounds  of 
deer-suet,  that  entire  amount  having  been  purchased 
for  twenty-five  pounds  of  copper  and  fifty  pounds 
of  iron  and  beads. 


40  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

CHAPTER  II. 

Conduct  of  Powhatan  after  Smith's  departure  for  England, 
and  causes  of  it — Hostilities  resumed — Peace  finally  ejected 
by  the  capture  of  Pocahontas — Manner  of  gaining  this  point 
— Marriage  of  Pocahontas  with  John  Rolfe — Death  and 
character  of  Powhatan — His  person,  manner  of  living,  talents, 
influence.  His  method  and  means  of  warfare — The  disci 
pline  of  his  warriors — The  manner  in  which  he  availed 
himself  of  the  English  arms  and  science — Causes  of  his 
hostility  towards  the  colonists — His  dignity — Shrewdness — 
Independence — Courtesy — Liberality Simplicity Affec 
tion  for  his  relatives — A  review  of  various  opinions  enter 
tained  of  him  by  various  historians. 

FROM  the  date  of  the  expedition  of  which  the 
particulars  have  just  been  given,  to  the  time  of  Smith's 
departure  for  England,  a  few  months  subsequent,  the 
English  and  the  Powhatans  treated  and  traded  with 
each  other  upon  tolerably  amicable  terms.  A  prin 
cipal  cause  of  this  harmony  is  to  be  looked  for  in 
several  fortunate  incidents  which  went  to  impress 
the  savage  simplicity  of  one  party  with  an  inordinate 
conception  of  the  superiority  of  the  other. 

Soon  after  the  return  of  the  expedition,  several 
articles  were  stolen  at  Jamestown  by  one  of  the 
Chickahominy  Indians  who  traded  there;  and  a 
pistol  among  the  rest.  The  thief  fled,  but  two  of 
his  brothers,  suspected  of  being  accessaries  in  the 
case,  were  apprehended.  One  of  them  was  dis 
charged,  to  go  in  search  of  the  offender ;  and  the 
other  was  imprisoned,  with  the  understanding  that 
unless  the  former  should  be  successful  in  his  search 
within  twelve  hours,  he  was  to  be  hanged.  But  for 
his  comfort  during  that  interval,  Smith  furnished 
him  with  victuals,  and  charcoal  for  a  fire  In  the 
evening,  the  man  who  had  been  discharged,  returned 
with  the  pistol ;  but  the  poor  fellow  in  the  dungeon 
was  meanwhile  very  nearly  smothered  with  the 


INDIAN    BIOGRAI-HY.  41 

smoke  of  his  coal.  Those  who  came  to  release  him 
took  him  up  for  dead.  "  The  other  most  lamentably 
bewayled  his  death,  and  broke  forth  into  such  bitter 
agonies  that  the  President  [Smith]  to  quiet  him,  told 
him  that  if  he  would  steale  no  more,  he  would  make 
him  [his  brother]  alive  again  ;  but  he  little  thought 
he  could  be  recovered.  Yet  we  doing  our  best  with 
aqua  Vita  and  Vinegar,  it  pleased  God  to  restore  him 
againe  to  life,  but  so  drunke  and  affrighted  that  he 
seemed  lunaticke,  the  which  as  much  tormented  and 
grieued  the  other,  as  before  to  see  him  dead.  Of 
this  maladie,  vpori  promise  of  their  good  behavour 
the  President  promised  to  recover  him ;  and  so 
caused  him  to  be  layd  by  a  fire  to  sleepe,  who  in  the 
morning  having  well  slept  had  recovered  his  perfect 
senses,  and  then  being  dressed  of  his  burning,  and 
each  a  peece  of  copper  given  them,  they  went  away 
so  well  contented  that  this  was  spread  among  all  the 
savages  for  a  miracle,  that  Captain  Smith  could  make 
a  man  alive  that  was  dead."* 

Another  of  the  incidents  just  alluded  to  is  as  follows. 
One  of  Powhatan's  subjects,  in  his  zeal  to  acquire 
knowledge  and  some  other  things,  obtained  posses 
sion  of  a  large  bag  of  gun-powder  and  the  backe,  as 
Smith  calls  it,  of  an  armour.  This  ingenious  artisan, 
on  his  return  to  Werowocomoco,  determined  to  dis 
play  these  precious  prizes  to  his  wondering  country 
men,  and  at  the  same  time  to  exhibit  his  own  ex 
traordinary  skill  in  the  management  of  them.  He 
therefore  began  drying  the  powder  upon  the  armour, 
as  he  had  seen  the  soldiers  do  at  Jamestown.  Un 
luckily,  he  dried  it  too  much.  An  explosion  took 
place,  which  blew  up  the  proprietor,  together  with 
one  or  two  of  the  spectators  who  were  peeping  over 
his  shoulders.  Several  »thers  were  badly  scorched, 
and  all  horribly  frightened ;  and  for  some  time  after 
powder  fell  into  a  general  disuse  with  the 
much  to  the  benefit  of  the  English. 

*•  Smith's  History,  p.  226. 

L— D 


42  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

These  and  other  similar  accidents,  we  are  told,  so 
affrighted  Powhatan  and  his  people,  that  they  came 
in  from  every  quarter  with  proffers  of  peace.  Sev 
erul  stolen  articles  were  returned,  the  loss  of  which 
had  never  before  been  discovered  ;  and  whenever 
an  Indian  was  convicted  of  theft,  wherever  he  might 
be  found,  he  was  promptly  sent  in  to  Jamestown  for 
his  punishment.  Not  long  afterwards  we  find  that 
"so  affraide  was  al  those  kings  and  the  better  sort 
of  the  people  to  displease  vs  [the  colonists]  that  some 
of  the  baser  sort  that  we  haue  extreamely  hurt 
and  punished  for  their  villanies,  would  hire  vs  we 
should  not  tell  it  to  their  kings  or  countrymen,  who 
would  also  punish  them,  and  yet  returne  them  to 
lames-Toune  to  content  the  President  for  a  testi 
mony  of  their  loues." 

Still,  the  prowess  and  the  name  of  Smith  himself 
were  the  best  preservatives  of  peace ;  and  he  had 
scarcely  left  the  country  for  England  when  matters 
relapsed  into  their  worst  state.  About  thirty  of  the 
English  were  cut  off  by  Powhatan's  men  atone  time; 
and  of  a  population  of  six  hundred  left  in  the  colony 
at  Smith's  departure,  there  remained  at  the  end  of  six 
months  only  sixty  men,  women  and  chiMren.  These 
were  subsisted  chiefly  upon  roots,  herbs,  acorns, 
walnuts,  berries  and  now  and  then  a  little  fish.  The 
skins  of  horses,  and  even  considerable  quantities  of 
starch,  were  used  for  food.  Others  went  so  far  as  to 
disinter  and  devour  the  body  of  an  Indian  who  had 
been  slain  and  buried.  One  man  killed  his  wife, 
"  powdered  her,"  and  had  eaten  a  part  of  her  before 
it  was  known.  The  poor  wretch  was  hanged  for 
his  horrible  deed  of  despair. 

Peace  was  finally  effected  with  Powhatan  through 
the  intervention,  or  r-ather  by  the  mere  medium  of 
Pocahontas,  in  the  following  manner.  Early  in 
1613,*  two  ships  arrived  at  Jamestown  with  supplies 

*This  date  is  mentioned  by  all  the  Virginian  historians;  bu 
Prince,  in  his  Annals,  says  that  the  voyage  took  place  a  yea. 
afterwards  Belknap  (Am.  Biog.)  is  of  the  same  opinion. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  43 

for  the  colony.  These  being  insufficient,  Captain 
Argall,  who  commanded  one  of  them,  was  sent  up 
the  Potomac  river  to  trade  with  the  natives  for  corn. 
Here  Argall  formed  a  particular  acquaintance  with 
Japazaws,  the  chief  sachem  of  the  Potomacs  or 
Patawomekes,  and  always  a  stanch  friend  of  the 
English.  He  informed  the  captain,  among  other 
things,  that  Pocahontas  was  at  this  time  in  his  terri 
tories,  and  not  far  distant,  keeping  herself  in  seclusion, 
and  known  only  to  a  few  trusty  friends.  What  were 
the  reasons  which  induced  her  thus  to  forsake  her 
father's  dominions  for  a  foreigner's,  does  not  appear. 
Stith  supposes  it  was  to  withdraw  herself  from  being 
a  witness  of  the  frequent  butcheries  of  the  English, 
whose  folly  and  rashness,  after  Smith's  departure, 
put  it  out  of  her  power  to  save  them.  And  very 
probably,  as  a  later  historian  suggests,*  she  had 
already  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  emperor  by 
these  repeated  and  futile  though  highly  honorable 
attempts. 

But  whatever  her  motives  might  be,  Argall  had 
no  sooner  received  intelligence  of  her  situation,  than 
he  resolved  on  obtaining  possession  of  her  person, 
as  a  means — which  he  had  no  doubt  the  colony 
would  thank  him  for — of  effecting  a  peace  with 
Powhatan.  Japazaws  seems  to  have  been  a  well- 
meaning  and  honest  fellow  in  general ;  but  the 
temptation  of  a  large  new  copper  kettle,  which  Ar 
gall  held  out  before  him  as  the  promised  recompense 
for  his  aid  and  abettance  in  the  case — the  consider 
ation  of  the  praiseworthy  object  proposed  to  be 
accomplished  by  the  measure — and  last  though  not 
least  of  all,  the  captain's  pledge  that  Pocuhontas 
should  not  be  harmed  while  in  his  custody,  were 
sufficient  to  overcome  his  scruples.  The  next  thing 
in  order  was  to  induce  the  princess — as  this  amiable 
and  talented  Indian  female  has  generally  been  styled 
—to  go  on  board  Argall's  boat.  To  that  end,  Japa- 


*Burk's  History  of  Virginia,  Vol.  I.  p.  167 


44  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHV. 

zaws,  who  had  himself  seen  many  of  the  Englisk 
vessels  before  this,  induced  his  wife  to  affect  an  ex 
treme  curiosity  upon  the  subject,  so  intolerably  im 
portunate  that  he  finally  threatened  to  beat  her.  The 
good  woman  on  the  other  hand  actually  accomplished 
a  few  tears.  This  happened  in  the  presence  of 
Pocahontas,  and  the  scene  was  frequently  repeated, 
until  at  last  Japazaws,  affecting  to  be  subdued  by  the 
manifest  affliction  of  his  wife,  reluctantly  gave  her 
permission  to  visit  the  vessel,  provided  that  Pocahon 
tas  would  have  the  politeness  to  go  with  her. 

The  princess,  always  complaisant,  and  unable  to 
witness  any  longer  the  apparent  distress  of  her  kind 
friend  and  hostess,  consented  to  go  on  board  the 
ship.  There  they  were  civilly  welcomed,  and  first 
entertained  in  the  cabin.  The  captain  then  found 
an  opportunity  to  decoy  Pocahontas  into  the  gun 
room,  on  pretence  of  conferring  there  with  Japazaws, 
but  really  because  the  kind-hearted  Sachem,  who  had 
received* ere  this  the  brilliant  wages  of  his  sin,  and 
began  perhaps  to  relent,  was  unwilling  to  be  known 
by  the  princess  to  have  been  concerned  in  the  plot 
against  her  liberty.  When  Argall  told  her,  in  his 
presence,  that  she  must  go  with  him  to  the  colony, 
and  compound  a  peace  between  her  father  and  the 
English,  she  wept  indeed  in  the  bitterness  of  her 
soul ;  as  for  Japazaws  and  his  wife,  they  absolutely 
howled  with  inconsolable  and  inconceivable  afflic 
tion.  But  the  princess  recovered  her  composure  on 
finding  herself  treated  with  kindness ;  and  while  she 
turned  her  face  towards  the  English  colony,  (which 
she  had  not  seen  since  Smith's  departure)  with  some 
thing  even  like  cheerfulness  at  the  prospect  of  doing 
good,  her  distressed  guardian  and  his  pliant  spouse, 
with  their  copper  kettle  filled  with  toys,  trudged 
merrily  back  to  their  own  wigwam. 

On  ArgalPs  arrival  at  Jamestown,  a  message 
was  immediately  despatched  to  Powhatan,  "  that  his 
daughter  Pocahontas  he  loued  so  dearly,  he  must 
ransom  with  our  men,  swords,  peeces,  tooles,  &«v 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  46 

hee  trecherously  had  stolen."*  This  was  not  so 
complimentary  or  soothing  as  might  have  been 
imagined,  it  must  be  allowed  ( — the  courtesy  of 
Smith  was  no  longer  in  the  colony — }  and  this  per 
haps  was  the  reason  why,  much  as  the  unwelcome 
news  of  his  daughter's  captivity  is  said  to  have 
troubled  him,  he  sent  no  answer  to  the  message  for 
the  space  of  three  months.  Then,  at  the  further  per 
suasion  of  the  council  of  Jamestown,  he  liberated  and 
sent  in  seven  of  his  English  prisoners,  with  three 
rusty  unserviceable  muskets,  an  axe,  a  saw,  and 
one  canoe  laden  with  corn.  They  were  instructed 
to  say  that  if  Pocahontas  should  be  given  up,  he 
would  make  satisfaction  for  all  the  injuries  he  had 
done,  conclude  a  perpetual  peace,  and  send  in  a  bonus 
of  five  hundred  bushels  of  corn.  To  this  the  council 
replied  that  his  daughter,  though  they  would  use  her 
well,  could  not  he  restored  to  him  until  all  the  English 
arms  and  captives  in  his  possession  should  be  de 
livered  back  to  the  owners.  They  did  not  believe, 
what  he  or  some  of  his  men  had  asserted,  that  these 
arms  had  been  lost,  or  that  the  whites  who  remained 
with  him  were  free  volunteers  in  his  service. 

This  ungracious  message  was  no  more  conciliating 
than  the  former ;  nor  was  any  thing  more  seen  or 
heard  of  the  emperor  until  the  spring  of  1614,  when 
a  party  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  colonists,  well  arm 
ed,  went  up  his  own  river  to  Werowocomoco,  taking 
Pocahontas  with  them.  The  Powhatans  received 
them  with  scornful  bravadoes,  proudly  demanding 
the  purpose  of  this  new  invasion.  The  English  an 
swered,  that  they  had  brought  the  emperor's  daugh 
ter,  and  that  they  expected  the  proper  ransom  for  her, 
either  peaceably  or  by  force.  The  Powhatans  re 
joined,  that  if  they  came  to  fight,  they  were  wel 
come,  and  should  be  treated  as  Captain  Ratcliffef 
had  been.  Upon  this  the  English  said  they  would 

*  Smith's  History,  Vol.  II.  p.  14. 

t  Massacred  with  the  thirty  colonists  mentioned  previously 
in  this  chapter.  He  was  otherwise  colled  Sicklemore. 


46  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

have  a  more  civil  answer  at  least,  and  forthwith  com 
menced  making  rapidly  for  the  shore  in  their  smalJ 
boats,  the  Indians  having  about  the  same  time  be 
gun  to  let  fly  their  arrows  among  them.  They  effected 
a  landing,  and  burned  and  destroyed  every  thing  they 
could  find.  The  next  day  they  sailed  farther  up  the 
river  ;  and  meeting  with  a  fresh  party  of  Powhatans, 
after  some  altercation  and  explanation,  a  truce  was 
concluded,  and  messengers  were  promised  to  be  sent 
off  for  the  emperor.  This  was  probably  a  mere 
feint.  It  was  also  stated,  that  the  English  captives 
or  deserters  had  run  off,  for  fear  of  being  hanged  by 
their  countrymen.  As  for  the  swords  and  pieces, 
they  were  to  be  brought  in  the  next  day.  But  noth 
ing  was  seen  of  them,  and  the  English  proceeded  till 
they  came  to  a  residence  of  Powhatan  (called  Matchot) 
where  were  collected  about  four  hundred  of  his 
warriors,  well  armed.  These  men  challenged  the 
English  to  land ;  and  when  they  did  so,  walked 
boldly  up  and  down  among  them ;  demanded  a  con 
ference  with  their  captain  ;  and  said,  that  unless 
time  should  be  allowed  them  to  send  and  receive 
directions  from  Powhatan,  they  would  fight  for 
their  own  as  well  as  they  were  able.  Other  brava 
does  passed  between  the  parties,  but  a  truce  was 
finally  agreed  upon  until  noon  of  the  next  day. 
Meanwhile,  two  of  the  brothers  of  Pocahontas — of 
whom  this  is  the  first  mention — came  to  see  her. 
They  were  delighted  to  find  her  hi  good  health,  and 
promised  to  do  every  thing  they  could  to  effect  her 
redemption.  Two  of  the  English  also  set  off  to  visit 
Powhatan.  They  were  not  admitted  to  the  empe 
ror's  presence — for  what  reason,  it  is  not  stated — 
but  Opechancanough  treated  them  in  the  most  hos 
pitable  manner.  On  their  return,  the  whole  party 
descended  the  river  to  Jamestown. 

One  of  the  two  messengers  last  named  was  John 
Rolfe,  styled  by  an  old  historian,*  "  an  honest  gentle- 

*  Ralph  Hamer,  whose  relation  is  incorporated  with  pome  of 
the  oldest  histories  of  other  writers  He  was  subsequently 
one  of  the  Council 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  47 

man  and  of  good  behaviour ; "  but  more  especially 
known  by  the  event  which  we  have  now  to  notice — 
his  marriage  with  Pocahontas — between  whom  and 
himself  there  had  been  an  ardent  attachment  for 
some  time.  The  idea  of  this  connexion  pleased 
Powhatan  so  much,  that  within  ten  days  after  Rolfe's 
visit,  lie  sent  in  one  of  his  near  relatives  named 
Opachiko,  together  with  two  of  his  sons,  to  see  (as 
says  the  authority  just  cited)  the  manner  of  the  mar 
riage  ;  and  to  do  in  that  behalf  what  they  were  re 
quested  for  the  confirmation  thereof,  as  his  deputies. 
The  ceremony  took  place  about  the  first  of  April ; 
and  from  that  time  until  the  death  of  the  emperor, 
which  happened  in  1618,  the  most  friendly  rela 
tions  were  uniformly  preserved  with  himself  and 
with  his  subjects. 

There  are  too  many  memorable  passages  in  the 
history  of  this  celebrated  chieftain,  and  too  many  re 
markable  traits  in  his  character,  to  be  passed  over 
vvith  a  mere  general  notice.  But,  previous  to  any 
other  comment,  it  may  be  proper  to  mention  certain 
facts  respecting  him,  which  belong  rather  to  the 
curious  than  to  the  characteristic  class.  In  the  case 
of  all  great  men,  as  well  as  of  many  noted  men  who 
are  not  great,  there  is  a  good  deal  of  information 
generally  to  be  gathered,  which  may  be  interesting 
without  being  strictly  important.  Powhatan  was 
both  a  great  and  a  noted  man,  though  a  savage  ;  and 
the  rude  circumstances  under  which  he  proved  him 
self  the  one,  and  made  himself  the  other,  should  only 
render  him  *he  more  signally  an  object  of  popular 
admiration  ard  of  philosophical  regard. 

In  person,  he  is  described,  by  one  who  saw  him 
frequently,  ao  a  tall  well-proportioned  man,  with  a 
severe  aspect ;  his  head  slightly  gray  ;  his  beard  thin 
(as  that  of  the  Indians  always  is;)  and  "of  a  vory 
able  and  hprdy  body  to  endure  any  labor."  As  he 
appeared  to  be  about  sixty  years  of  age,  when  the 
English  first  saw  him,  in  1607,  he  was  probably  about 
seventy  at  his  death.  He  troubled  himself  but  little 


48  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

with  public  affairs  during  his  last  years,  leaving  the 
charge  of  them  chiefly  to  Opechancanough,  as  his 
viceroy,  and  taking  his  own  pleasure  in  visiting  the 
various  parts  of  his  dominions. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  observe,  that  he 
nad  as  many  as  three  or  four  places  of  residence. 
Werowocomoco  was  abandoned  for  Orapakes,  vsith 
the  view  of  keeping  at  an  agreeable  distance  from 
the  colonists.  The  latter  became  a  favorite  resort. 
There,  at  the  distance  of  a  mile  from  the  village,  he 
had  a  house  in  which  were  deposited  his  royalties 
end  his  revenue — skins,  copper,  beads,  red  paint, 
bows  and  arrows,  targets  and  clubs.  Some  of  these 
things  were  reserved  for  the  time  of  his  burial ; 
others  were  the  resources  of  war.  The  house  itself 
was  more  than  one  hundred  feet  in  length — one  histo 
rian  says  fifty  or  sixty  yards — and  as  it  seems  to  have 
been  frequented  only  by  the  Indian  priests,  probably 
a  sacred  character  attached  to  it  in  the  minds  of  the 
multitude,  which  was  one  of  the  means  of  its  se 
curity.  Four  rudely-graven  images  of  wood  were 
stationed  at  the  four  corners ;  one  representing  a 
dragon,  the  second  a  bear,  the  third  a  panther,  and  the 
fourth  a  gigantic  man — all  made  evil-favoredly,  as  we 
are  told,  but  according  to  the  best  workmanship  of 
the  natives. 

The  state  which  Powhatan  adopted  as  emperor, 
appears  in  some  degree  from  the  preceding  details  of 
his  history.  He  is  said  to  have  kept  about  his  person 
from  forty  to  fifty  of  the  tallest  men  in  his  dominions  ; 
which  might  be  the  case  in  war,  and  upon  occasions 
of  parade  and  ceremony,  more  regularly  than  in 
peaceable  and  ordinary  times.  Every  night,  four 
sentinels  were  stationed  at  the  four  corners  of  his 
dwelling ;  and  at  each  half-hour  one  of  the  body 
guard  made  a  signal  to  the  four  sentinels.  Want  of 
vigilance  on  their  part  was  punished  with  the  most 
exemplary  strictness. 

According  to  the  universal  custom  of  the  North 
American  natives,  he  kept  as  many  wives  as  he 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  49 

thought  proper ;  and  is  represented  to  have  taken 
no  little  pleasure  in  their  society.  When  the  English 
saw  him  at  home,  reclining  on  his  couch  or  platform, 
there  was  always  one  sitting  at  his  head,  and  another 
at  his  feet ;  and  when  he  sat,  two  of  them  seated 
themselves  on  either  side  of  him.  At  his  meals,  one 
of  them  brought  him  water  in  a  wooden  platter  to 
wash  his  hands,  before  and  after  eating  ;  and  another 
attended  with  a  bunch  of  feathers  for  a  towel.  Some 
were  the  daughters,  and  had  been  the  wives  of  dis 
tinguished  rivals  and  enemies,  conquered  in  battle. 
When  he  became  weary  of  them,  he  transferred  then? 
as  presents  to  his  favorite  warriors. 

A  general  proof  of  the  talents  of  Powhatan  may 
be  found  in  the  station  which  he  held,  as  well  as 
the  reputation  he  enjoyed  far  and  wide  among  his 
countrymen.  The  Indian  tribes  are  democracies. 
He  who  rules  over  them  must  acquire  and  sustain 
his  influence  by  his  absolute  intellect  and  energy. 
Friends  and  family  may  assist,  occasionally,  in  pro 
curing  rank;  but  they  will  not  secure  the  perma 
nent  possession  of  it.  Generally,  therefore,  the  head- 
Sachem  may  be  looked  upon  as  comparatively  a 
model  of  those  qualities  which  his  countrymen  es 
teem  suitable  to  that  dignity.  He  must  not  only  be 
a  warrior,  brave,  hardy,  patient,  and  indefatigable ; 
but  he  must  show  talents  for  controlling  the  fortunes 
and  commanding  the  respect  of  the  community 
which  he  governs. 

But  in  this  case  there  is  better  evidence  ;  and  es 
pecially  in  the  ultimate  extent  of  Powhatan's  go 
vernment  as  compared  with  his  hereditary  dominions, 
These  included  but  six  tribes  of  the  thirty  which 
were  finally  subject  to  him,  arid  all  which  must  have 
become  attached  to  his  rule  in  consequence  of  the 
character  maintained  and  the  measures  adopted  by 
himself.  Among  others  were  the  Chickahominies,  a 
very  warlike  and  proud  people,  numbering  from  two 
hundred  to  five  hundred  warriors,  while  the  Powhat 
10—4 


50  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

ans  proper,  (the  original  nucleus,  so  to  speak,  of  the 
emperor's  dominion,)  numbered  less  than  a  hundred. 
The  fear  which  these  savages  entertained  of  him  ap 
pears  on  many  occasions,  and  particularly  when  they 
embraced  an  opportunity,  in  1611,  of  exchanging  his 
yoke  for  that  of  the  English.  They  were  so  desirous 
of  this  change — or  in  other  words  of  procuring  what 
they  considered  the  protection  of  the  new  master 
against  the  power  of  the  old — that  they  offered  to 
adopt  a  national  name  indicating  their  subjection. 
A  peace  was  accordingly  concluded  on  condition — 

I.  That  tiiey  should  be  forever  called  Tassautessus 
[Englishmen,]  and  be  true  subjects  to  King  James, 
and  his  deputies. 

II.  They  were  neither  to  kill  nor  detain  any  of 
the  colonists,  or  their  cattle,  but  to  return  them  on 
all  occasions. 

III.  They   should   stand  ready   to   furnish  three 
hundred  warriors  for  the  colony's  service,  against  the 
Spaniards  or  any  other  enemy. 

IV.  They  were  not  to  enter   the  English  settle 
ments,  but  send  word  they  were  new  Englishmen, 
(an  obscure  provision,  meant  to  prevent  confounding 
them  with  hostile  tribes.) 

V.  Every  fighting  man,  at  the  beginning  of  har 
vest,  was  to  pay  two  bushels  of  corn  as  a  tribute, 
receiving  the  same  number  of  hatchets  in  return. 

VI.  The  eight  chief  men  were  to  see  all  this  per 
formed,   on   forfeit  of  being  punished   themselves 
Their  salary  was  to  be  a  red  coat,  a  copper  chain, 
the  picture  of  King  James,  and  the  honor  of  being 
accounted  his  noblemen. 

This  treaty  was  concluded  with  a  general  assent, 
manifested  by  acclamation  ;  and  then  one  of  the  old 
men  began  a  speech,  addressing  himself  first  to  those 
of  his  own  age,  then  to  the  young,  and  lastly  to  the 
women  and  children,  a  multitude  of  whom  were 
present.  He  gave  them  to  undersand  how  strictly 
these  conditions  must  be  observed,  and  how  sale 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  51 

they  should  t  len  be,  on  the  other  hand,  "from  the 
furie  of  Powhatan  or  any  enernie  whatsoeuer,"  * 
besides  being  furnished  with  arms  to  resist  th'-m. 
The  name  of  the  emperor,  it  will  be  observed,  is  not 
inserted  in  the  articles  of  peace  ;  there  was  supposed 
to  be  a  hazard,  probably,  of  its  coming  to  his  ears ; 
and  he  had  then  himself  just  concluded  an  amicable 
treaty.  "But  all  this,"  adds  our  historian,  "was 
rather  for  feare  Powhatan  and  we  being  so  linked 
together,  would  bring  them  again  to  his  subjection  • 
the  which  to  preuent,  they  did  rather  chuse  to  be 
protected  by  vs,  than  tormented  by  him,  whom  they 
held  a  Tyrant." 

We  have  seen,  that  of  the  whole  Indian  population 
between  the  sea-coast  and  the  Alleghany  from  east 
to  west,  and  between  the  borders  of  Carolina  and 
the  river  Patuxent  in  Maryland  from  south  to  north, 
all  who  were  not  subject  to  Powhatan's  domin 
ions  were  leagued  against  him.  The  former  class 
comprised  the  lowland  tribes  ;  and  the  latter,  the 
mountaineers.  In  the  language  of  Stith,  the  Mon- 
acans  and  the  Mannahoacks  formed  a  confederacy 
against  the  power  and  tyranny  of  Powhatan.  Another 
writer  says,  that  he  also  fought  against  the  famous 
Massa\\  omekes ;  a  powerful  and  populous  nation, 
thought  to  be  situated  upon  a  great  salt-water, 
"  which  by  all  probability  is  either  some  part  of 
Cannada,  some  great  lake,  or  some  inlet  of  some  sea 
that  falleth  into  the  South  Sea."  This  is  not  a  very 
definite  description,  even  for  Smith  to  give;  but  the 
Massawomekes  are  generally  understood  to  have  been 
no  other,  we  believe,  than  the  celebrated  Five  Nations 
of  New  York.  At  all  events,  they  were  exceedingly 
troublesome  to  the  northernmost  tribes  of  Powhatan 
— which  might  be  a  principal  reason  why  they  sub 
mitted  the  more  willingly  to  him.  And  thus,  while 
the  greater  part  of  his  own  empire  was  a  conquered 
one,  he  was  environed  by  foreign  enemies  in  every 

*  Authorities  referred  to  in  Smith's  History,  Vol.  II. 


52  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

direction,  including  the  civilized  colony  on  t/ie  sea- 
coast. 

As  to  his  particular  system  of  war  and  conquest, 
we  are  not  minutely  informed.  Like  Indian  warfare 
in  other  sections  and  times,  it  is  said  to  have  con 
sisted,  in  a  great  degree,  of  stratagem  and  surprisal 
rather  than  force.  In  1608,  a  rebellion  which  arose 
among  the  Payuntatanks,  was  suppressed  in  the 
following  manner.  They  being  near  neighbors,  a 
number  of  his  own  tribe  was  sent  into  their  villages, 
who  under  some  disguise  or  false  pretence  obtained 
lodgings  over  night.  The  several  houses  were 
meanwhile  beset  with  ambuscades :  and  at  an  ap 
pointed  signal,  the  two  parties,  within  and  without, 
commenced  an  attack  at  the  same  moment.  Twenty- 
four  Payuutatanks  were  slain,  and  their  scalps  carried 
to  Powhatan,  who  kept  them  some  time  suspended  on 
a  line  between  two  trees,  as  a  trophy.  The  women  and 
children,  as  also  the  Werowance  or  Sachem,  were 
made  prisoners,  and  afterwards  slaves  or  servants. 

Po  whatan's  warriors  were  regularly  and  thoroughly 
disciplined.  At  one  of  his  first  interviews  with  the 
English,  a  martial  parade  formed  part  of  the  enter 
tainment.  Two  or  three  hundred  Indians  having 
painted  and  disguised  themselves  in  the  fiercest  man 
ner  possible,  were  divided  into  two  companies,  one 
of  which  was  temporarily  styled  Powhatans  and  the 
other  Monacans.  Each  company  had  its  captain. 
They  stationed  themselves  at  about  a  musket-shot 
from  each  other.  Fifteen  men  abreast  formed  the 
front  line  of  both,  and  the  remainder  ranked  them 
selves  in  the  rear  with  a  distance  of  four  or  five 
yards  from  rank  to  rank  ;  and  not  in  file,  but  in  the 
opening  between  the  files,  so  that  the  rear  coi^d 
shoot  as  conveniently  as  the  front.  A  parley  now 
took  place,  and  a  formal  agreement  was  made  that, 
whoever  should  conquer,  such  warriors  as  survived 
their  defeat  should  have  two  days  allowed  them  for 
their  own  submission,  while  their  wives  and  children 
should  at  once  become  prize  to  the  victor. 


INDIA*     BIOGRAPHY  53 

The  parties  advanced  against  each  otner  -a  sort 
of  sergeant  commanding  each  flank,  and  a  lieu 
tenant  the  rear:  and  the  entire  company  came  on 
leaping  and  singing  to  warlike  music,  but  every  man 
in  his  place.  On  the  first  flight  of  arrows,  they 
raised  upon  both  sides  a  terrific  clamor  of  shouts 
and  screeches.  "  When  they  had  spent  their  arrows, 
(writes  the  describer  of  this  scene,)  they  joined  togeth 
er  prettily,  charging  and  retiring,  every  rank  seconding 
the  other.  As  they  got  advantage,  they  caught  their 
enemies  by  the  hair  of  the  head,  and  down  he  came 
that  was  taken.  His  enemy  with  his  wooden  sword 
seemed  to  beat  out  his  brains,  and  still  they  crept  to  the 
rear  to  maintain  the  skirmish."  The  Monacan  party 
at  length  decreasing,  the  Powhatans  charged  them 
in  the  form  of  a  half  moon.  The  former  retreat,  to 
avoid  being  enclosed,  and  draw  their  pursuers  upon 
an  ambuscade  of  fresh  men.  The  Powhatans  retire 
in  their  turn,  and  the  Monacans  take  this  opportunity 
of  resuming  their  first  ground.  "All  their  actions, 
voices  and  gestures,  both  in  charging  and  retiring, 
were  so  strained  to  the  height  of  their  qualitie  and 
.mature,  that  the  strangeness  thereof  made  it  seem  very 
lelightful."  The  warlike  music  spoken  of  above  was 
i  large  deep  platter  of  wood,  covered  with  skin 
drawn  so  tight  as  to  answer  the  purpose  of  a  drum. 
They  also  used  rattles  made  of  small  gourds  or 
pornpion-shells  ;  and  all  these — it  may  well  be  sup 
posed — mingled  with  their  voices,  sometimes  twenty 
>r  thirty  together,  "  made  such  a  terrible  noise,  as 
ivould  rather  affright  than  delight  any  man." 

It  was  probably  by  no  little  drilling" of  this  descrip 
tion  that  Powhatan  made  soldiers  of  his  subjects , 
and  it  naturally  enough  mortified  him,  after  taking 
so  much  trouble  with  so  much  success,  to  see  them 
defeated  so  readily  as  they  were  by  the  English. 
The  chief  cause,  too,  of  this  superiority,  was  a  matter 
of  wonder.  No  Indian  had  ever  before  seen  any 
thing  which  resembled,  in  form  or  effect,  the  fire 
arms  of  their  strange  enemy.  For  some  time,  there- 


54  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

fore,  their  fear  was  attended  with  a  superstitioi 
against  which  no  courage  could  prevail.  But  Pow 
hatan  was  not  long  in  determining  at  all  events  to  put 
himself  on  equal  terms  with  the  colonists,  whatever 
might  be  the  hazard ;  and  from  that  moment  he 
spared  no  efforts  to  effect  his  purpose.  On  Newport's 
departure  for  England,  he  bargained  away  from  him 
twenty  swords  for  twenty  turkeys.  He  attempted  the 
same  trade  with  Smith  ;  and  when  the  latter  shrewd 
ly  declined  it,  his  eagerness  became  such,  we  are  told 
'that  at  last  by  ambuscadoes  at  our  very  gates  they 
[the  Powhatans]  would  take  them  per  force,  surprise 
vs  at  worke,  or  any  way."  *  Some  of  these  trou 
blesome  fellows  being  seized  and  threatened,  they 
confessed  that  the  emperor  had  ordered  them  to  get 
possession  of  the  English  arms,  or  at  least  some  of 
them,  cost  what  it  might. 

He  availed  himself,  with  great  ingenuity,  of  a  dis 
position  among  some  of  the  colonists  to  trade  pri 
vately  in  these  contraband  articles  ;  and  in  that  way 
obtained  large  quantities  of  shot,  powder  and  pike- 
heads.  So,  upon  Smith's  departure  for  the  settle 
ment,  after  his  famous  visit,  in  December,  1608,  he 
artfully  requested  the  captain  "to  leaue  him  Edward 
Brynton  to  Mile  him  foule,  and  the  Dutchmen  to  fin 
ish  his  house"  This  house,  we  have  seen,  was  aban 
doned  ;  and  as  for  fowl,  the  idea  of  employing  an 
Englishman  to  hunt  for  his  Powhatans  was  absurd. 
He  had  no  objection,  however,  to  Brynton's  gun  01 
his  martial  services.  The  Germans  he  was  probably 
sure  of  already.  They  proved  traitors  to  the  colony, 
and  soon  after  we  find  them  diligently  engaged  in 
arming  and  instructing  the  savages.  One  of  them 
subsequently  stated,  that  the  emperor  kept  them  at 
work  for  him  in  duresse.  He  himself  sent  answer 
to  Smith's  demand  for  them,  that  they  were  at  liber 
ty  to  go  if  they  chose — but  as  for  carrying  them  fifty 
miles  on  his  back,  he  was  not  able.  The  adroitness 

*  Smith's  History.,  Vo'.   I. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  35 

with  which  he  obtained  arms  at  Jamestown,  during 
Smith's  absence,  has  already  been  the  subject  of 
comment. 

The  implicit  obedience  which  he  exacted  of  his 
own  subjects,  notwithstanding  the  apparently  preca 
rious  tenure  by  which  he  held  his  command,  is  a 
striking  indication  of  the  extent  of  his  mere  personal 
influence.  "When  he  listeth,"  says  an  old  writer, 
"his  will  is  a  law,  and  must  be  obeyed:  not  onely  as 
a  King,  but  as  halfe  a  God,  they  esteeme  him.  What 
he  commandeth  they  dare  not  disobey  in  the  least 
thing.  At  his  feete  they  present  whatsoever  he  com- 
mandeth,  and  at  the  least  froune  of  his  browe,  their 
greatest  spirits  will  tremble  with  feare."  This  sub 
ordination  was  sustained  by  measures  which,  for  se 
verity  and  courage,  would  do  no  discredit  to  the  most 
absolute  despot  of  the  Eastern  world.  On  one  occa 
sion,  certain  offenders  were  burned  to  death  in  the 
midst  of  an  immense  heap  of  glowing  coals,  collect 
ed  from  many  fires  made  for  the  purpose.  A  more 
merciful  punishment  was  by  braining  the  criminal 
with  a  club,  as  Smith  was  to  have  been  sacrificed. 
The  most  horrible  was  fastening  the  poor  wretch  to 
a  tree,  breaking  his  joints  one  by  one,  and  then 
whittling  down  the  body  with  reeds  and  shells. 
Thrashing  with  cudgels  was  no  trifle.  Smith  says 
he  saw  a  man  subjected  to  this  discipline  under  the 
hands  of  two  of  his  practised  countrymen,  till  he 
fell  prostrate  and  senseless ;  but  he  uttered  no  cry  or 
complaint. 

The  extraordinary  native  shrewdness  of  Powhatan 
was  abundantly  manifested  in  the  amusing  advan 
tages  he  obtained  over  Newport ;  his  long  and  artful 
conversations  with  Smith,  some  of  them  sustained 
under  the  most  embarrassing  circumstances,  merely 
to  procure  time;  the  promptness  with  which  he 
rejected  and  defeated  the  proposal  to  make  common 
cause  against  the  Monacans — a  bait,  as  he  expressed 
it,  too  foolish  to  be  taken  ;  and,  in  fine,  upon  every 
occasion  when  the  English  undertook  to  negotiate  or 


56  INDIAN    B10GRAIMY 

to  argue  with  him.  We  availed  himseJf  most  essen 
tially  of  the  aid  of  the  German  deserters  heretofore 
mentioned,  but  he  had  too  much  sagacity  to  trust 
them  after  they  deserted  himself;  and  so,  when  two 
of  them  fled  to  him  a  second  time,  with  proposals 
for  delivering  his  great  rival,  Captain  Smith,  into 
his  hands,  he  only  observed,  that  men  who  betrayed 
the  captain  would  betray  the  emperor,  and  forthwith 
ordered  the  scoundrels  to  be  brained  upon  the  spot.* 

Powhatan,  like  many  others  of  his  race,  has  been 
regarded  with  prejudice  for  the  very  reasons  which 
entitle  him  to  respect.  He  was  a  troublesome  enemy 
to  the  colonists.  His  hostile  influence  extended  for 
hundreds  of  miles  around  them ;  cutting  off  com 
merce  with  the  natives  in  the  first  place,  and  making 
inveterate  enemies  of  them  in  the  next.  Powhatan, 
we  are  told,  "  still  as  he  found  means  cut  off  their 
boats,  and  denied  them  trade  ;  "f  and  again,  "  as  for 
corne,  contribution  and  provision  from  the  salvages, 
we  had  nothing  but  mortall  wounds,  with  clubs  and 
arrowes."  Here,  too,  we  find  the  emperor  availing 
himself  of  the  disasters  and  despair  of  the  colony,  to 
procure  swords,  muskets  and  ammunition — so  reek- 
ess  had  the  colonists  become  through  famine. 

Still,  it  does  not  appear,  that  Powhatan  adopted 
any  policy  but  such  as  he  believed  indispensable  to 
he  welfare,  not  to  say  the  existence,  of  his  sovereign 
dominions.  His  warfare  was  an  Indian  warfare,  in 
deed.  But  setting  aside  those  circumstances  of 
education  and  of  situation  which  rendered  this  a 
matter  both  of  pride  and  necessity,  it  may  be  safely 
said,  that  he  but  followed  the  example  of  those  who 
should  have  known  better.  Not  only  did  he  act 
generally  in  self-defence  against  what  he  deemed  the 
usurpation  of  a  foreign  and  unknown  people,  who 
had  settled  without  permission  upon  his  shores  ;  but 
he  was  galled  and  provoked  by  peculiar  provocations 

»  Stith  Book  III. 

t  Authorities  in  Smith's  History,  Vol.  II 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  57 

in  numerous  instances.  Tho  mere  liberty  of  taking 
possession  of  a  part  of  his  territory  might  have 
been  overlooked.  Probably  it  was  so.  In  the  earli 
est  days  of  the  settlement,  when  nothing  could  be 
easier  for  Powhatan  than  to  extinguish  it  at  a  single 
assault,  it  is  acknowledged  that  his  people  often 
visited  the  English  and  treated  them  with  kindness.* 
Not  long  afterwards,  indeed,  they  committed  some 
trespasses,  but  meanwhile  a  party  of  the  English 
had  invaded  the  interior  of  the  country.  Consider 
ing  the  dissolute  and  unprincipled  character  of  a 
large  part  of  them,  it  is  not  improbable  that  still 
greater  freedom  was  exercised  with  the  Indians; 
such  of  course  as  the  historians  would  be  likely 
neither  to  record  nor  to  know.  And  yet  Smith  him 
self  has  told  enough — of  himself— to  make  this  point 
clear.  In  his  very  first  expedition  after  corn,  seeing, 
he  says,  "  that  by  trade  and  courtesie  nothing  was  to 
be  had,  he  made  bold  to  try  such  conclusions  as  neces- 
stiie  in/breed"  He  let  fly  a  volley  of  musketry,  ran 
his  boats  ashore,  skirmished  with  the  natives,  and 
forcibly  obtained  a  supply  of  provisions.  And  thus 
adds  the  scrupulous  captain — 

"  Thus  God  vnboundlesse  by  his  power 
Made  them  so  kinde  would  vs  devour." 

It  was  nothing  to  the  emperor,  or  to  his  subjects, 
that  Smith  went  beyond  his  authority  in  these  mat 
ters.  "  The  patient'councill  " — he  writes  in  another 
connexion — "that  nothing  would  moue  to  warre 
with  the  saluages,  would  gladly  have  wrangled  with 
Captaine  Smithe  for  his  crueltie."  He  adds,  that  his 
proceedings — his  conclusions,  is  his  own  language — 
had  inspired  the  natives  with  such  fear,  that  his  very 
name  was  a  terror.  No  wonder  that  he  sometimes 
had  peace  and  war  twice  in  a  day.  No  wonder  that 
scarcely  a  week  passed  without  some  villany  or 
other.  Again,  when  the  Chickahominies  refused  to 
trade,  the  President,  "  percieving  [supposing]  it  was 

*  Ibid,  Vol.  I 


58  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

Powhatan's  policy  to  starve  him,"  landed  his  com 
pany  forthwith,  and  made  such  a  show  of  anger  and 
ammunition  that  the  poor  savages  presently  brought 
in  all  their  provisions. 

So  we  are  summarily  informed  in  Mr.  Hamer'a 
relation,  that  about  Christmas  (1611)  "in  regard  of 
the  iniurie  done  vs  by  them  of  Apamatuk,  Sir  Thomas 
Dale,  without  the  losse  of  any  except  some  few  Sal 
vages,"  took  possession  of  the  territory  and  provision 
of  the  tribe,  made  a  settlement  upon  the  former  with 
out  ceremony,  and  called  it  New  Bermudas !  One 
more  illustration  must  suffice.  It  is  a  passage  of 
Smith's  history  relating  to  a  detachment  of  vagabonds, 
under  the  command  of  one  West,  who  left  James 
town,  and  located  themselves  not  far  from  Powhatan's 
residence  at  the  falls  of  the  river.  "  But  the  worst 
was,  that  the  poore  Salvages  that  daily  brought  in 
their  contributions  to  the  President,  that  disorderly 
company  so  tormented  these  poore  soules,  by  stealing 
their  corne,  robbing  their  gardens,  beating  them, 
breaking  their  houses,  and  keeping  some  prisoners, 
that  they  daily  complained  to  Captaine  Smith  he  had 
brought  them  for  Protectors  worse  enemies  than  the 
Monacans  themselves,  which  though  till  then  for  his 
love  they  had  endured,  they  desired  pardon  if  here 
after  they  defended  themselves — since  he  would  riot 
correct  them  as  they  had  long  expected  he  would." 
A  most  reasonable  determination,  civilly  and  candidly 
expressed. 

But,  whatever  may  be  said  of  the  motives  or  method 
of  the  warfare  of  Powhatan,  it  must  be  acknowledged 
that  his  character  appears  to  no  disadvantage  in 
peace.  We  cannot  but  admire  the  Roman  dignity 
.with  which  he  rejected  all  offers  of  compromise,  so 
long  as  the  English  seemed  disposed  to  take  advan 
tage  of  their  own  wrong  in  the  violent  seizure  of 
Pocahontas.  They  knew  that  this  was  his  favorite 
child,  and  they  presumed  on  the  strength  of  his  at 
tachment.  But,  much  as  her  situation  tio-ubled  him, 
he  would  not  sacrifice  his  honor  s  >a*  as  t^  nego- 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  59 

tiate  for  her  restoration  on  derogatory  terms.  He 
was  afflicted,  but  he  was  still  more  incensed.  Wherij 
however,  he  ascertained,  by  sending  his  sons  to  visit 
her,  that  she  was  well  treated,  and  in  good  health, 
(though,  we  are  somewhere  told,  "  they  had  heard  to 
the  contrarie,")  he  began  to  think  better  of  the  offers 
of  peace.  Then  came  Rolfe  "  to  acquaint  him  with 
the  businesse,"  and  kindly  he  was  entertained, 
though  not  admitted  to  the  presence  of  Powhatan. 
The  young  gentleman  explained  himself,  however, 
to  the  emperor's  brother  ;  and  the  latter  promised  to 
imercede  for  him,  as  did  also  the  two  sons.  Their 
explanations  proved  successful.  The  emperor  was 
not  only  convinced  that  his  daughter  was  entertained 
civilly  by  the  English,  but  he  was  pleased  with  the 
honorable  intentions  and  touched  by  the  passionate 
and  tender  affection  of  Rolfe.  No  sooner,  therefore, 
did  the  time  appointed  for  the  marriage  come  to  his 
knowledge — and  no  doubt  Rolfe  had  already  had 
the  politic  courtesy  to  apply  for  his  consent — than 
he  despatched  three  members  of  his  own  family  to 
confirm  the  ceremony.  "  And  ever  since,"  adds  the 
historian, "  we  have  had  friendly  trade  and  commerce, 
as  well  with  Powhatan  himselfe,  as  all  his  subjects." 
So  jealous  were  he  and  they  of  injustice  ;  and  so 
susceptible  were  they,  at  the  same  time,  of  mild  and 
magnanimous  impressions. 

We  find  characteristic  anecdotes,  to  the  same 
effect,  in  the  curious  account  Mr.  Hamer  has  left  on 
record  of  a  visit  which  he  paid  the  emperor  in  1614, 
soon  after  the  conclusion  of  peace.  After  some 
conversation  upon  business  matters,  the  visiter  was 
invited  to  Powhatan's  own  residence,  where  was  a 
guard  of  two  hundred  warriors,  which,  (as  Mr.  Hamer 
supposes,)  always  attended  his  person.  Having  offer 
ed  that  gentleman  a  pipe  of  tobacco,  he  immediately 
inquired  after  the  health  of  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  at. 
that  time  President,  and  then  of  his  own  daughter 
and  her  husband  ;  wishing  to  know  especially  how 
these  two  liked  each  other.  Hamer  answered,  that 


60  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

Sir  Thomas  was  perfectly  well ;  and  as  for  Poca- 
hontas,  she  was  so  contented,  that  she  never  would 
return  to  her  father's  court  again  if  she  could.  Pow 
hatan  laughed  heartily  at  this  reply,  and  soon  aftei 
asked  the  particular  cause  of  Mr.  Hamer's  present 
visit.  On  being  told  it  was  private,  he  ordered  his 
attendants  to  leave  the  house,  excepting  only  the  two 
females — said  to  have  been  Indian  queens — who  al 
ways  sat  by  him,  and  then  bade  Mr.  Hamer  proceed 
with  his  message. 

The  latter  began  with  saying,  that  he  was  the  bearer 
of  sundry  presents  from  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  which 
were  delivered  accordingly,  much  to  the  emperor's 
satisfaction.  He  then  added,  that  Sir  Thomas,  hear 
ing  of  the  fame  of  the  emperor's  youngest  daughter, 
was  desirous  of  obtaining  her  hand  in  marriage.  He 
conceived,  there  could  not  be  a  finer  bond  of  union 
between  the  two  people,  than  such  a  connexion ; 
and  besides,  her  sister  Pocahontas  was  exceedingly 
anxious  to  see  her  at  Jamestown.  He  hoped  that 
Powhatan  would  at  least  oblige  himself  so  much,  as 
to  suffer  her  to  visit  the  colony  when  he  should  re 
turn. 

Powhatan  more  than  once  came  very  near  inter 
rupting  the  delivery  of  this  message.  But  he  control 
led  himself,  and  replied  with  great  gravity  to  the 
effect,  that  he  gladly  accepted  the  President's  saluta 
tion  of  love  and  peace,  which  he  certainly  should 
cherish  so  long  as  he  lived  ;  that  he  received  with 
many  thanks  the  presents  sent  him  as  pledges  thereof; 
but  that,  as  for  his  daughter,  he  had  sold  her,  only  a 
few  days  before,  to  a  great  Werowance,  living  at  the 
distance  of  three  days'  journey,  for  three  bushels  of 
Rawrenoke  [RoanokeJ.  Hamer  took  the  liberty  to 
rejoin,  that  a  prince  of  his  greatness  might  no  doubt 
recall  his  daughter,  if  he  would — especially  as  she  was 
only  twelve  years  of  age — and  that  in  such  a  case  he 
should  receive  for  her  from  the  President,  three  times 
the  worth  of  the  Roanoke,  in  beads,  copper  and 
hatchets. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  61 

Tc  this  Povvhatan  readily  rejoined,  that  he  loved 
his  daughter  as  his  life ;  and  though  he  had  many 
children,  he  delighted  in  her  most  of  all.  He  could 
not  live  without  seeing  her,  and  that  would  be  im- 
possihle  if  she  went  among  the  colonists,  for  he  had 
resolved  upon  no  account  to  pid  himself  in  their  power, 
or  to  visit  them.  He  therefore  desired  Mr.  Hamer  to 
say  no  more  upon  the  subject ;  but  to  tell  the  Presi 
dent  in  his  name.  1.  That  he  desired  no  other  as 
surance  of  the  President's  friendship  than  his  word 
which  was  already  pledged.  He  had  himself,  on  the 
other  hand,  already  given  such  assurance  in  the  per 
son  of  Pocahontas.  One  was  sufficient,  he  thought,  at 
one  time ;  when  she  died,  he  would  substitute  another  in 
her  stead.  But,  meanwhile,  he  should  consider  it  no 
brotherly  part  to  bereave  him  of  two  children  at  once. 
2.  Though  he  gave  no  pledge,  the  President  ought 
not  to  distrust  him  or  his  people.  There  had  been 
already  lives  enough  lost  on  both  sides ;  and  by  his 
fault  there  should  never  be  any  more.  He  had 
grown  old,  and  desired  to  die  peaceably.  He  should 
hardly  fight  even  for  just  cause  ;  the  country  was 
wide  enough,  and  he  would  rather  retreat.  "  Thus 
much,"  he  concluded,  "I  hope  will  satisfy  my 
brother.  And  so  here,  as  you  are  weary  and  sleepy, 
we  will  end."  He  then  ordered  a  supper  and  good 
lodgings  for  his  guest,  and  the  latter  took  his  leave 
for  the  night. 

Early  the  next  morning,  Powhatan  himself  visited 
Mr.  Hamer  at  his  lodging-place,  and  invited  him  to 
return  to  his  own  wigwam.  There  he  entertained 
him  in  his  handsomest  manner.  The  time  passed 
pleasantly,  and  Mr.  Hamer  began  to  feel  at  home. 
By  and  by  came  in  an  Englishman,  one  who  had 
been  surprised  in  a  skirmish  three  years  before  at 
Fort  Henry,  and  detained  ever  since.  He  was  so 
completely  savage  in  his  complexion  and  dress,  that 
Hamer  only  recognised  him  by  his  voice.  He  now 
asked  that  gentleman  to  obtain  leave  for  him  to  re 
turn  with  him  to  the  colony  ;  and  the  request  WM 


62  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

accordingly  made,  and  even  pressed.  The  emperor 
was  vexed  at  length.  "  Mr.  Harner,"  said  he,  "  you 
have  one  of  my  daughters,  and  I  am  content.  But 
you  cannot  see  one  of  your  men  with  me,  hut  you 
must  have  him  away  or  break  friendship.  But  take 
him,  if  you  will.  In  that  case,  however,  you  must  go 
home  without  guides  [which  were  generally  offered 
the  English  on  these  occasions]:  and  if  any  evil 
befalls  you,  thank  yourselves." 

Hamer  replied  that  he  would  do  so ;  but  he  would 
not  answer  for  the  consequences,  if  any  accident 
should  happen.  The  emperor  was  incensed  at  this, 
and  left  him  ;  but  he  appeared  again  at  supper  time, 
feasted  his  guest  with  his  best  fare,  and  conversed 
cheerfully.  About  midnight  he  roused  Hamer  from 
a  nap,  to  tell  him  he  had  concluded  to  let  Parker 
(the  captive,)  go  with  him  in  the  morning.  But  he 
must  remind  Sir  Thomas  to  send  him,  in  consider 
ation  thereof,  ten  large  pieces  of  copper,  a  shaving- 
knife,  a  grindstone,  a  net,  and  sundry  fish-hooks  and 
other  small  matters  For  fear  Hamer  should  forget 
these  particulars,  he  made  him  write  a  list  of  them 
in  what  the  historians  call  a  table-book^  which  he 
produced.  "  However  he  got  it,"*  says  the  narrator, 
"  it  was  a  faire  one,  and  I  desired  hee  would  give  it 
me."  Powhatan  evaded  this  modest  request  by  say 
ing  that  he  kept  it  to  show  to  strangers ;  but  when 
his  guest  left  him  in  the  morning,  he  furnished  him 
and  his  attendants  with  ample  provision  for  his  jour 
ney,  gave  each  of  them  a  buck's-skin,  "as  well 
dressed  as  could  be,"  and  sent  two  more  to  his  son- 
in-law  and  his  daughter. 

There  is  much  matter  for  reflection  in  this  simple 
narrative.  The  sagacity  of  Powhatan  in  discerning 
the  true  object  of  the  visit,  is  worthy  of  the  fearless 
dignity  with  which  he  exposed  it.  He  gave  little 

*  Probably  of  some  English  captive.  Smith  wrote  his  fa. 
rnous  letter  to  Jamestown,  during  his  first  captivity,  on  what  he 
calls  the  leaf  of  a  table-book. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  63 

peed,  it  would  seem  to  the  pretext  of  marriage  ;  and 
ronsidering  only  the  age  of  his  daughter — especially 
as  compared  with  the  President's — there  was  reason 
enough  why  he  should.  His  conjectures  were  un 
doubtedly  correct,  arid  he  had  some  right  to  he  offend 
ed  at  the  jealousy  which  was  still  harbored  by  the 
colonists.  Stith  expressly  states,  that  the  policy  of 
Sir  Thomas  was  merely  to  obtain  an  additional 
pledge  for  the  preservation  of  peace.* 

The  affection  which  Powhatan  here  manifests  for 
his  children,  his  hospitality  even  to  one  who  took 
liberties  upon  the  strength  of  it,  his  liberality,  the 
resolution  with  which  he  maintained  peace  while  he 
still  evidently  distrusted  the  English  honor,  his  ready 
evasions  and  intelligent  reasoning,  his  sensibility  to 
insult  which  he  nevertheless  thought  it  beneath  him 
to  resent,  are  all  easily  to  be  perceived  in  this  in 
stance,  and  are  well  worthy  to  be  regarded  among 
other  evidences  of  his  tamper  and  genius. 

His  self-command  and  his  chivalrous  courtesy,  on 
every  former  occasion,  would  have  done  no  dishonor, 
in  another  country  and  time,  to  the  lion-hearted 
monarch  of  England  himself.  In  this  respect  he  was 
well  matched  with  Smith  ;  and  it  is  not  the  least  in 
teresting  point  in  the  common  history  of  the  two,  to 
observe  the  singular  union  of  suavity  and  energy 
with  which  both  effected  their  purposes.  Immediately 
after  delivering  the  celebrated  reply  which  he  sent 
to  Newport's  proposal  by  Smith,  the  historian  adds 
that,  "  many  other  discourses  they  had,  (yet  both 
content  to  give  each  other  content  in  complimentall 
courtesies)  and  so  Captain  Smith  returned  with  his 
answer."  In  the  same  style,  when  Newport  came 
himself — perceiving  hiss  purpose  was  to  discover  and 
invade  the  Monacans — we  are  told  that  he  "refused 
to  lend  him  either  men  or  guides  more  than  Noman- 
tack,  and  so  after  some  complimentall  kindnesse  on 
both  sides,"  he  presented  the  disappointed  captain 

*  History,  p.  133. 


64  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

with  seven  or  eight  bushels  of  corn,  and  wished  imn  a 
pleasant  journey  to  Jamestown.  He  would  not  suffer 
so  brave  a  man  as  Smith  to  be  even  beheaded,  with 
out  having  first  ordered  two  of  his  queens  to  serve 
him  with  water  and  a  bunch  of  feathers,  and  then 
feasted  him  in  what  the  victim  himself  considered 
his  best  barbarous  manner.  It  is  very  evident  there 
was  neither  fear  nor  hypocrisy  in  any  of  these  cases. 

None  of  the  noble  traits  we  have  mentioned  lose 
any  of  their  charm  from  being  connected,  as  they  are, 
with  the  utmost  simplicity  of  barbarism.  The  read 
er  of  these  times,  therefore,  may  be  allowed  to  smile 
at  the  pertinacity  with  which  this  mighty  warrior  and 
renowned  monarch  insisted  upon  Parker's  being  ran 
somed  in  fish-hooks ;  and  the  solemn  gravity  with 
which  he  divested  himself  of  his  mantle  and  old  shoes 
for  the  gratification  and  reward  of  Newport.  The 
presents  sent  to  him  by  Sir  Thomas  Dale  were  two 
pieces  of  copper,  five  strings  of  white  and  blue 
beads,  five  wooden  combs,  ten  fish-hooks,  and  a  pair 
of  knives — not  to  mention  the  promise  of  a  grindstone, 
whenever  he  should  send  for  it — clearly  a  much  bet 
ter  bargain  for  his  daughter,  had  he  wished  to  dis 
pose  of  her,  than  the  two  bushels  of  Roanoke.  The 
Werowances  and  queens  of  conquered  nations  wait 
ed  upon  him  at  his  meals,  as  humbly  as  certain  kings 
of  the  middle  ages  are  said  to  have  waited  upon  the 
Pope ;  but  unlike  his  Holiness,  Powhatan  could  make 
his  own  robes,  shoes,  bows,  arrows,  and  pots,  besides 
planting  his  corn  for  exercise,  and  hunting  deer  for 
amusement.  The  Indians  generally  subsisted  on 
fish  in  the  spring,  and  lived  light  for  some  months 
after;  but  "Powhatan,  their  great  king,  and  some 
others  that  are  provident,  rost  their  fish  and  flesh 
vpon  hurdles,  and  keepe  it  till  scarce  times."* 

In  fine,  it  would  seem,  that  no  candid  person  can 
read  the  history  of  this  famous  Indian,  with  an  at- 

*  Smith's  account  of  the  NATURAL    INHABITANTS   of 
VIRGINIA. 


BIOGRAPHY  65 

ten  live  consideration  of  the  circumstances  under 
which  lie  was  placed,  without  forming  a  high  esti 
mate  of  his  character  as  a  warrior,  a  statesman  and  a 
patriot.  His  deficiencies  were  those  of  education  and 
not  of  genius.  His  faults  were  those  of  the  people 
whom  he  governed  and  of  the  period  in  which  he 
lived.  His  great  talents,  on  the  other  hand,  were  his 
own  ;  and  these  are  acknowledged  even  by  those 
historians  who  still  regard  him  wkh  prejudice.  Stith 
calls  him  a  prince  of  excellent  sense  and  parts,  and  a 
great  master  of  all  the  savage  arts  of  government  and 
policy.  He  adds,  that  he  was  penetrating,  crafty,  in 
sidious  and  cruel.  "But  as  to  the  great  and  moral 
arts  of  policy,"  he  concludes,  "such  as  truth,  faith, 
uprightness  and  magnanimity,  they  seemed  to  have 
been  but  little  heeded  or  regarded  hy  him."  Burk's 
opinion  appears  to  us  more  correct.  In  the  cant  of 
fivilisation,  (says  that  excellent  historian,)  he  will 
doubtless  be  branded  with  the  epithets  of  tyrant  and 
Barbarian:  But  his  title  to  greatness,  though  his 
opportunities  were  fewer,  is  to  the  full  as  fair  as  that 
of  Tamerlane  or  Kowli  Khan,  and  several  others 
whom  history  has  immortalized  ;  while  the  proofs 
of  his  tyranny  are  by  no  means  so  clear.  Still,  it 
might  have  been  as  reasonable  to  say,  that  there  are 
no  such  proofs  in  being.  The  kind  of  martial  law 
which  the  emperor  sometimes  exercised  over  his 
own  subjects,  was  not  only  a  matter  of  custom, 
founded  on  the  necessity  which  must  always  exist 
among  ignorant  men  ;  but  it  was  a  matter  of  license, 
which  had  grown  into  constitutional  law,  by  common 
consent.  It  has  been  justly  observed,  that  there  is  no 
possibility  of  a  true  despotism  under  an  Indian 
government.  It  is  reason  that  governs, — nominally 
at  least — and  the  authority  is  only  the  more  effectual 
as  the  obedience  is  more  voluntary. 
10—5 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPH* 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  family  of  Powhatan — His  successor — Sequel  o'.'  the  his 
tory  of  Pocahuritas — Her  acts  of  kindness  to  the  colonists  a 
various  times,  and  especially  to  Smith — His  gratitude — Hei 
civilisation,  and  instruction  in  Christianity — Her  visit  tc 
England"  in  1616 — Reception  at  Court — Interview  with 
Smith — His  memorial  respecting  her  to  Queen  Anne — Her 
deatli  and  character — Her  descendants. 

THE  family  of  Powhatan  was  numerous  and  influ 
ential.  Two  sons  and  two  daughters  have  already 
been  mentioned.  There  were  also  three  brothers 
younger  than  himself;  and  upon  them  successively, 
according  to  their  several  ages,  custom  seems  to 
have  required  that  the  government  should  devolve 
after  his  own  death.  The  eldest,  OPITCHIPAN,*  ac 
cordingly  succeeded  him,  in  form  at  least.  But  this 
prince  was  an  inactive  and  unambitious  man — ow 
ing1  in  some  degree  perhaps  to  his  being  decrepid  ; 
and  he  was  soon  thrown  into  the  shade  by  the  supe 
rior  energy  and  talent  of  Opechancanough,  who 
before  many  years  engrossed  in  fact  the  whole  power 
of  the  government.  Of  the  younger  brother,  K.EKA- 
TAUGH,  scarcely  any  thing  is  known.  He  propably 
died  before  any  opportunity  occurred  of  signalizing 
himself  in  a  public  station.  The  sequel  of  the  history 
of  OPECHANCANOUGH  is  well  worthy  of  being  dwelt 
upon  at  some  length  :  but  previously,  the  order  of 
time  requires  us  to  devote  a  share  of  attention  to  the 
fortunes  of  his  celebrated  niece,  POCAHO.NTAS. 

This  beautiful  and  amiable  woman,  whom  John 
Smith,  in  the  excess  of  his  admiration,  styles  "  the 

*By  various  writers  called  Itopatin,  Itoyatin,  Oetan,Opitch- 
ipan,  Toyatan — a  characteristic  instance  of  the  uncertainty 
which  attends  the  orthography  of  Indian  proper  names.  One 
cause  is  in  the  custom  of  changing  the  name  upon  great  occa 
sions.  Opitchipan  himself  after  his  accession  was  called 
Sasawpen;  and  Opechancanough,  Mangopeeomen. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  67 

Numpareil  of  Virginia,"  has  been  distinguished  in 
modem  times,  chiefly,  by  that  single  extraordinary 
act  of  courage  and  humanity  to  which  the  gallant 
historian  was  indebted  for  the  preservation  of  his 
life.  But  this  was  by  no  means  the  only  evidence 
of  these  noble  qualities  which  history  has  preserved. 
Her  name  indeed  is  scarcely  once  mentioned  by  the 
most  ancient  chronicles  of  the  colony,  except  in  terms 
of  high  eulogy,  and  generally  in  connexion  also  with 
some  substantial  facts  going  strongly  to  justify  the 
universal  partiality  with  which  her  memory  is  re 
garded  to  these  times. 

In  the  earliest  and  most  gloomy  days  of  the  settle 
ment,  immediately  after  Smith's  return  from  his 
captivity,  the  liberal  and  thoughtful  kindness  of 
Poeahontas  went  very  far  to  cheer  the  desponding 
hearts  of  the  colonists,  as  well  as  to  relieve  their  actual 
necessities.  She  came  into  Jamestown  with  her 
attendants  once  in  every  four  or  five  days,  for  a  long 
time  ;  and  brought  with  her  supplies  of  provisions, 
by  which  many  lives  are  stated  to  have  been  saved. 
This  will  appear  more  fully  from  an  ancient  docu 
ment  which  we  shall  hereafter  transcribe  at  length. 

When  Smith  was  absent  upon  one  of  his  Indian 
expeditions,  emergencies  occurred  at  Jamestown 
which  rendered  his  presence  extremely  desirable. 
But  not  a  man  could  be  found  who  dared  venture  to 
carry  a  message  to  him  from  the  council.  lie  was 
known  to  be  environed  by  enemies,  and  the  hostility 
and  power  of  Powhatan  were  at  that  period  subjects 
of  the  most  exaggerated  apprehension.  One  Richard 
Wyffin  at  last  undertook  the  hazardous  enterprise. 
Encountering  many  dangers  and  difficulties,  he  reach 
ed  the  residence  of  Powhatan,  a  day  or  two  after 
Smith  had  left  it  for  Pamunkey.  He  found  that 
great  preparations  for  war  were  going  on  among  the 
Powhatans  ;  and  he  soon  became  himself  the  object 
of  suspicion.  His  life  undoubtedly  would  have  paid 
the  forfeit  of  his  rashness,  had  not  Pocahontas,  who 
knew  his  perilous  situation  even  better  than  himself; 


68  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

concealed    him,  and  thwarted  and  embarassed   the 

*ear«'h   of  the    savages  who  pursued  him,   so  that 

l>y  her  means  and  extraordinary  bribes  and  much 

trouble  in  three  days  travell,"  as  history   says,  "at 

ength  he  found  vs  in  the  middest  of  these  turmoyles," 

at  Jamestown.) 

li^r  conduct  was  the  same  after  Smith's  departure 
?">r  Kngland.  Of  the  thirty  men  who  accompanied 
Ratrliffe  when  he  was  massacred  by  the  Indians,  only 
on^  ^scaped  to  the  colony,  and  one  was  rescued  by 
Pocahontas.  This  was  a  hoy  named  Henry  Spilman, 
who  subsequently  was  restored  to  his  friends,*  and 
from  the  knowledge  of  Indian  languages  which  he 
obtained  during  his  residence  with  the  Patowomekes 
proved  highly  serviceable  as  an  interpreter.  Smith 
himself  was  more  than  once  under  obligations  to  the 
princess  for  his  personal  safety.  We  have  alluded 
to  that  occasion  when  he  quartered,  over  night,  near 

he  residence  of  her  father.  "  Pocahontas,  his  dearest 

ewell  and  daughter,  in  thatdarke  night  came  through 
ihe  irksome  woods,  and  told  our  Captaine  great 
rheare  should  be  sent  vs  by  and  by  ;  but  Powhatan 
and  all  the  power  he  could  make,  would  after  come 
kill  vs  all,  if  they  that  brought  it  could  not  kill  vs 
with  our  owne  weapons,  when  we  were  ar  supper. 
Therefore  if  we  would  Hue,  she  wished  vs  presently 
to  be  gone.  Such  things  as  she  delighted  in,  lie 
would  haue  giuen  her;  but  with  the  teares  running 
downe  her  cheekes,  she  said  she  durst  not  be  seen  to 
haue  any,  for  if  Powhatan  should  know  it,  she  were 
but  dead,  and  so  she  ran  away  by  herself  as  she 
came."f  What  an  affecting  instance  of  the  most 
delicate  tenderness  mingled  with  the  loftiest  i-ourage. 
It  would  have  been  strange  indeed,  if  Smith,  with 
all  his  passionate  chivalry,  had  been  insensible  of 
these  repeated  kindnesses.  Even  Powhatan  had 


*  lie  was  destined,  however,  to  die  at  last  by  the  lunulis  of  the 
ivages,  in  1623. 
t Smith's  Historv. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  69 

LOO  good  an  opinion  of  him  to  suppose  so,  for  he 
had  the  sagacity  to  rely  upon  his  gratitude  for 
political  purposes.  When  some  of  the  emperor's 
subjects  were  taken  prisoners  hy  Smith,  (although 
peace  was  nominally  existing,)  and  forced  to  confers 
that  Powhatan  had  employed  them  to  work  mischief 
against  the  colony,  the  latter  "  sent  messengers,  and 
his  dearest  daughter  Pocahontas"  with  presents,  to 
make  apologies  for  the  past,  and  premises  for  the 
future.  Smith,  on  the  other  hand,  (who  understood 
as  well  as  any  one,  the  part  of  a  gentleman.)  after 
giving  the  prisoners  such  correction  as  he  deemed 
necessary,  treated  them  well  for  a  day  or  two,  and 
then  delivered  them  to  Pocahontas,  "  for  whose  sake 
onely  he  fayned  to  haue  saued  their  lines,  and  gaue 
them  lihertie."  The  emperor  was  paid  for  this  in 
genuity  in  his  own  coin,  when  the  colonists,  in  1613, 
took  the  princess  herself  captive,  rely  ing  on  the  well- 
known  strength  of  his  attachment  to  her,  as  the 
surest  means  of  procuring  peace. 

Her  subsequent  history  may  be  soon  told.  Rolfe 
had  become  ardently  enamoured  of  her  beauty,  and 
he  used  the  fortunate  occasion  of  her  stay  in  the 
colony — perhaps  was  active  in  bringing  it  on — to 
procure  the  intercession  of  the  President  in  his  behal£ 
Pocahontas  cherished  similar  feelings  towards  him 
self,  and  when  her  brothers  came  to  visit  her  she 
made  one  of  them  her  confidant.  Rolfe  gained  in 
formation  of  her  sentiments,  and  thus  was  embolden 
ed  to  prosecute  his  suit  with  a  spirit  worthy  of  the 
success  which  it  met  with.  The  parties  married. 
In  the  course  of  a  year  or  two,  the  young  I  ride 
became  quite  an  adept  in  the  English  language  and 
manners,  and  was  well  instructed  in  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity.  She  was  entitled  by  her  new  acquaint 
ances  the  Lady  Rebecca. 

In  1616,  she  and  her  husband  accompanied  Sir 
Thomas  Dale  to  England.  King  James,  (that  anoint 
ed  pedant,  as  Stith  calls  him,)  is  said  to  have  been 
offended  with  Rolfe  for  his  presumption  in  marrving 


70  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

he  daughter  of  a  king — a  crowned  head,  too,  it  will 
be  recollected. — He  might  have  thought,  perhaps, 
following  up  his  own  principles,  that  the  offspring 
of  the  marriage  would  be  fairly  entitled  to  succeed 
Powhatan  in  his  dominion.  But  the  affair  passed 
r,7k,  with  some  little  murmuring ;  and  Pocahontas 
herself  was  received  at  Court,  by  both  the  King  and 
Queen,  with  the  most  flattering  marks  of  attention. 
Lord  de  la  War,  and  his  lady,  and  many  other  cour 
tiers  of  rank,  followed  the  royal  example.  The 
princess  was  gratified  by  the  kindness  shown  to  her ; 
and  those  who  entertained  her,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  unanimously  of  opinion,  as  Smith  expresses 
himself,  that  they  had  seen  many  English  ladies 
worse-favored,  proportioned  and  behaviored. 

The  captain  was  at  this  time  in  England  ;  and 
although  upon  the  eve  of  leaving  that  country  on  a 
voyage  to  New  England,  he  delayed  his  departure 
for  the  purpose  of  using  every  possible  means  in  his 
power  of  introducing  the  princess  to  advantage.  A 
memorial  which  he  draughted  with  his  own  hand, 
and  sent  in  to  the  Queen,  is  supposed  to  have  had  no 
little  influence  at  Court.  It  is  well  worth  transcrib 
ing,  both  as  a  curiosity  of  style,  and  as  a  document 
of  authentic  history.  It  reads  thus  : 

"  To  the  most  high  and  vertuous  Princess  Queene 
Anne  of  Great  Britain. 

Most  admired  Queene, 

The  loue  I  beare  my  God,  my  King  and  Countrie 
hath  so  oft  embold°ned  mee  in  the  worst  of  extreme 
danger,  that  now  honestie  doth  constraine  mee  pre- 
purne  thus  farre  beyond  myselfe,  to  present  your 
Muiestic  this  short  discourse.  If  ingratitude  be  a 
deadly  poyson  to  all  honest  vertues,  I  must  be  guil- 
tie  of" that  crime  if  I  should  omit  any  meanes  to  be 
thankful.  So  it  is, 

That  some  ton  yeeres  agoe,  being  in  Virginia,  and 
taken  prisoner  by  the  powei  of  Powhatan  their 


'NUIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  71 

ehiefe  King,  I  received  from  this  great  Salvage  ex 
ceeding  great  courcesie,  especially  from  his  sonne  Nan- 
taguans,  the  most  manliest,  comeliest,  boldest  spirit  I 
euer  saw  in  a  salvage  ;  and  his  sister  Poeahontas,  the 
King's  most  deare  and  well-bcloued  daughter,  being 
but  a  childe  of  tvvelue  or  thirteene  yeeres  of  age, 
whose  compassionate  pitifull  heart,  of  desperate 
estate,  gaue  tnee  much  cause  to  respect  her ;  I  being 
the  first  Christian  this  proud  King  and  his  grim  at 
tendants  euer  saw ;  and  thus  inthralled  in  their 
barbarous  power,  I  cannot  say  1  felt  the  least  occa 
sion  of  want  that  was  in  the  power  of  those  my 
mortall  foes  to  preuent,  notwithstanding  al  their 
threats. 

After  some  sixe  weeks  fatting  among  these  Salvage 
Courtiers,  at  the  minute  of  my  execution,  she  haz 
arded  the  beating  out  of  her  owne  braines  to  saue 
mine,  but  not  onely  that,  but  so  preuailed  with  her 
father,  that  I  was  safely  conducted  to  lames-towne, 
where  1  found  about  eight  andthirtie  miserable  poore 
and  sicke  creatures,  to  keepe  possession  of  al  those 
large  territories  of  Virginia  ;  such  was  the  weaknesse 
of  this  poore  commonwealth,  as  had  the  salvages  not 
fed  us,  we  directly  had  starued. 

And  this  reliefe,  most  Gracious  Queene,  was  com 
monly  brought  vs  by  this  Lady  Pocahontas.  Not- 
withstanding  al  these  passages,  when  inconstant 
fortune,  turned  our  peace  to  warre,  this  tender  Virgin 
would  still  not  spare  to  dare  to  visit  vs,  and  by  her  our 
iarres  haue  been  oft  appeased,  and  our  wants  still 
supplyed.  Were  it  the  policie  of  her  father  thus  to 
irnploy  her,  or  the  ordinance  of  God  thus  to  make 
her  his  instrument,  or  her  extraordinarie  affection 
to  our  nation,  I  know  not.  But  of  this  I  am  sure; 
when  her  father,  with  the  utmost  of  his  policie  and 
power,  sought  to  surprise  mee,  hailing  but  eighteene 
with  mee,  the  darke  night  could  not  affright  her 
from  cornming  through  the  irkesome  woods,  and 
with  watered  eies  gaue  rne  mtilligence,  with  her 


7*2  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

best  aduice,  to   escape  his   furie;   which    had    bee 
knowne,  he  had  surely  slaine  her. 

lames-toune,  with  her  wild  traine,  she  as  fre^lj 
frequented  as  her  father's  habitation  ;  and  during  tht 
time  of  two  or  three  yeeres,  she  next  under  <*od 
was  still  the  instrument  to  preserve  this  eolonie  from 
death,  famine  and  utter  confusion,  which  if  in  those 
times  had  once  been  disolued,  Virginia  might  h:»ue 
line  as  it  was  at  our  first  arrivall  to  this  day. 

Since  then,  this  businesse  hailing  beene  turned  and 
varied  by  many  accidents  from  that  1  left  it  at,  it  is 
most  certaine,  after  a  long  and  troublesome  warre 
after  my  departure,  betwixt  her  father  and  our 
colonie,  at  which  time  slice  was  not  heard  off,  about 
two  yeeres  after  she  her  selfe  was  taken  prisoner 
Being  so  detained  neere  two  yeeres  longer,  the  colo 
nie  by  that  means  was  relieued,  peace  concluded 
and  at  last  reiecting  her  barbarous  condition,  shen 
was  maried  to  an  English  gentleman,  with  whom  at 
this  present  shee  is  in  England  ;  the  first  Christian 
euer  of  that  nation,  the  first  Virginian  euer  spake 
English,  or  had  a  childe  in  marriage  by  an  English 
man.  A  matter  surely,  if  my  meaning  bee  truly 
considered  and  well  vnderstood,  worthy  a  Prince's 
vnderstanding 

Thus,  most  Gracious  Lady,  I  have  related  to  your 
Maiestie,  what  at  your  best  leasure  our  approued 
Histories  will  account  you  at  large,  and  done  in  the 
time  of  your  Maiestie's  life  ;  and  howeuer  this  might 
bee  presented  you  from  a  more  worthy  pen,  it 
cannot  from  a  more  honest  heart.  As  yet  I  neuer 
begged  any  thing  of  the  state,  or  any,  and  it  is  my 
want  of  abilitie  and  her  exceeding  desert,  your  birth 
meanes  and  authoritie,  her  birth,  vertue,  want  and 
sirnplicitie,  doth  make  mee  thus  bold,  humbly  to 
beseech  your  Maiestie  to  take  this  knowledge  of  her, 
though  it  bee  from  one  so  vnworthy  to  be  the  reporter 
as  my  selfe,  her  husband's  estate  not  being  able  to 
make  her  fit  to  attend  your  Maiestie.  The  most  and 


INDIAN      BIOGRAPHY.  73 

least  I  can  doe  is  to  tell  you  this,  because  none  so  ofl 
hath  tried  it  as  my  selfe  ;  arid  the  rather  being  of  so 
great  a  spirit,  howeuer  her  stature. 

If  shce  should  not  be  well  recieued,  seeing  this 
kingdom  may  rightly  haue  a  kingdom  by  her  meaner, 
her  present  loue  to  vs  and  ehristianitie  might  turnw 
to  such  scorne  and  furio,  as  to  diuert  al  this  good  to 
the  worst  of  euill ;  where  [whereas]  rinding  so  great 
a  Queene  should  doe  her  some  honor  more  than  she 
can  imagine,  for  being  so  kinde  to  your  seruants  and 
subjects,  would  so  rauish  her  with  content,  as  en- 
deare  her  dearest  blood  to  effect  that  your  Maiestie 
and  al  the  King's  honest  subjects  most  earnestly  de 
sire.  And  so  I  humbly  kisse  your  gracious  hands." 

The  final  interview  between  the  gallant  and  gene 
rous  writer  of  this  memorial  and  the  princess  who 
was  the  subject  of  it,  is  an  occasion  too  interesting 
to  be  passed  over  without  notice.  She  had  been  told 
that  Smith,  whom  she  had  not  seen  for  many  years, 
was  dead  ;  but  why  this  information  was  given  her, 
does  not  appear.  Perhaps  it  was  to  make  his  appear 
ance  the  more  gratifying.  Possibly,  Master  Rollu, 
in  the  heat  of  his  passion,  during  the  critical  period 
of  courtship  had  deemed  it  advisable  and  justifiable 
to  answer,  to  this  effect,  the  anxious  inquiries  she 
would  naturally  make  after  Smith,  especially  during 
her  confinement  at  Jamestown.  But  whatever  the 
reason  was,  the  shock  of  the  first  meeting  had  nearly 
overwhelmed  her.  She  was  staying  at  Brentford, 
after  her  visit  to  London,  having  retired  thither  to 
avoid  the  noise  and  smoke  of  the  metropolis,  which 
she  was  far  from  enjoying.  Smith  was  announced, 
and  soon  after  made  his  appearance.  She  saluted 
him — modestly,  he  says  himself;  and  coolly,  accor 
ding  to  some  other  writers — and  then  turning  away 
from  him,  she  covered  her  face,  and  seemed  to  be  too 
much  discomposed  for  conversation. 

Undoubtedly  she  was  deeply  affected  with  a  mul 
titude  of  conflicting  emotions,' riot  the  least  of  which 
was  a  just  indignation  on  account  of  the  imposition 


74  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

which  the  English  had  practised  upon  her.  For  two 
or  three  hours  she  was  left  to  her  own  meditations 
At  the  end  of  that  time,  after  much  entreaty,  she  was 
prevailed  upon  to  converse ;  and  this  point  once 
gained,  the  politeness  and  kindness  of  her  visitant 
and  her  own  sweetness  of  disposition,  soon  renewed 
her  usual  vivacity. 

In  the  course  of  her  remarks  she  called  Smith 
her  Father.  That  appellation,  as  bestowed  by  a 
King's  daughter,  was  too  much  for  the  captain's 
modesty,  and  he  informed  her  to  that  effect.  But 
she  could  not  understand  his  reasoning  upon  the 
subject.  "Ah  !"  she  said — after  recounting  some 
of  the  ancient  courtesies  which  had  passed  between 
them — "  you  did  promise  Powhatan  that  what  was 
ycmrs  should  be  his,  and  hee  the  like  to  you.  You 
called  him  Father,  being  in  his  land  a  stranger;  and 
by  the  same  reason  so  must  I  doe  you."  Smith  still 
expressed  himself  unworthy  of  that  distinction,  and 
she  went  on.  "  Were  you  not  afraid  to  come  into 
my  father's  countrie,  and  caused  fear  in  him  anil  all 
his  people — but  mee — and  fear  you  I  should  here  call 
you  father  ?  I  tell  you  then  I  will ;  and  you  must 
call  mee  childe,  and  then  I  will  bee  foreuer  and  euer 
your  country-woman."  She  assured  Smith,  that  she 
had  been  made  to  believe  he  was  dead,  and  that 
Powhatan  himself  had  shared  in  that  delusion.  To 
ascertain  the  fact,  however,  to  a  certainty,  that  crafty 
barbarian  had  directed  an  Indian,  who  attended  her 
to  England,  to  make  special  inquiries.  This  was 
romocomo,  one  of  the  emperor's  chief  counsellors, 
and  the  husband  of  his  daughter  Matachanna — per 
haps  the  same  who  had  been  demanded  in  mar 
riage  by  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  in  1614. 

It  is  the  'ast  and  saddest  office  of  history  to  record 
the  death  01  *his  incomparable  woman,  in  about  the 
two-and-twenneth  year  of  her  age.  This  event  took 
place  at  Grav^send,  where  she  was  preparing  tc 
embark  for  Virginia,  with  her  husband,  and  thi 
"hild  mentioned  :n  Smith's  memorial.  They  wen 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  75 

to  have  gone  out  with  Captain  Argall,  who  sailen 
early  in  1(517  ;  and  the  treasurer  and  council  of  tin 
colony  had  made  suitable  accommodations  for  then, 
on  hoard  the  admiral-ship.  But,  in  the  language  ot 
Smith,  it  pleased  God  to  take  this  young  lady  to  his 
mercy.  He  adds,  that  she  made  not  more  sorrovs 
for  her  unexpected  death,  than  joy  to  the  beholders 
to  hear  and  see  her  make  so  religious  and  godly  an 
end.  Srith  also  records  that  she  died,  as  she  haa 
long  lived,  A  most  sincere  ami  pious  Christian.  Tht 
expression  of  a  later  historian  is,  that  her  death  was? 
a  happy  mixture  of  Indian  fortitude  and  Christian 
submission,  affecting  all  those  who  saw  her  by  tht 
lively  and  edifying  picture  of  piety  and  virtue,  which 
marked  her  latter  moments.* 

The  same  philosophic  writer,  in  his  general  ob 
servations  upon  the  character  of  Pocahontas,  has 
justly  remarked,  that,  considering  all  concurrent  cir 
cumstances,  it  is  not  surpassed  by  any  in  the  whole 
range  of  history ;  and  that  for  those  qualities  more 
especially  which  do  honor  to  our  nature — a  humane 
and  feeling  heart,  an  ardor  and  unshaken  constancy 
in  her  attachments — she  stands  almost  without  a 
rival.  She  gave  evidence,  indeed,  of  possessing  in  a 
high  degree  every  attribute  of  mind  and  heart,  which 
should  be  and  has  been  the  ornament  and  pride  of 
civilized  woman  in  all  countries  and  times.  Her 
unwearied  kindness  to  the  English  was  entirely  dis 
interested  ;  she  knew  that  it  must  be  so  when  she 
encountered  danger  and  weariness,  and  every  kind 
of  opposition  and  difficulty,  to  bestow  it,  seasonably, 
on  the  objects  of  her  noble  benevolence.  It  was  deli 
cate,  too,  in  the  mode  of  bestowment.  No  favor  was 
expected  in  reiurn  for  it,  and  yet  no  sense  of  obligation 
was  permitted  to  rnar  the  pleasure  which  it  gave. 
She  asked  nothing  of  Smith  in  recompense  for  what 
ever  she  had  done,  but  the  boon  of  being  looked 
upon  as  his  child.  Of  her  character  as  a  princess, 


*Burk's  Virginia,  Vol.  I. 


76  INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

evidence  enough  has  already  been  furnished,  tier 
dignity,  her  energy,  her  independence,  and  the  daunt 
less  courage  which  never  deserted  her  for  a  moment, 
were  worthy  of  Powhatan's  daughter. 

Indeed,  if  has  been  truly  said  that,  well  authenti 
cated  as  is  the  history  of  Pocahontas,  there  is  ground 
for  apprehension  that  posterity  will  be  disposed  to 
regard  her  story  as  a  romance.  "  It  is  not  even  im 
probable,"  says^Burk,  "that  considering  every  thing 
relating  to  herself  and  Smith  as  a  mere  fiction,  they 
may  vent  their  spleen  against  the  historian  for  im 
pairing  the  interest  of  his  plot  by  marrying  the  prin 
cess  of  Powhatan  to  a  Mr.  Rolfe,  of  whom  nothing 
had  been  previously  said,  in  defiance  of  all  the  ex 
pectations  raised  by  the  foregoing  parts  of  the  fable." 

Young  Rolfe,  her  only  offspring  was  left  at  Plym 
outh,  England,  under  the  care  of  Sir  Lewis  Steukley. 
who  undertook  to  direct  his  education — his  tender 
years  making  it  inexpedient  to  remove  him  to  Vir 
ginia.  As  that  gentleman  was  soon  after  completely 
beggared  and  disgraced  by  the  part  which  lie  took 
in  the  proceedings  against'  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  the 
tuition  of  Rolfe  passed  into  the  hands  of  his  uncle, 
Henry  Rolfe  of  London.  He  became  in  after  years 
a  man  of  eminence  and  fortune  in  Virginia,  and  in 
herited  a  considerable  tract  of  land  which  had  be 
longed  to  Powhatan.  At  his  death  he  K-fl  an  only 
daughter,  who  was  married  to  Col.  Robert  Boiling. 
By  him  she  had  an  only  son,  who  was  father  to  Col. 
John  Boiling,  (well  known  to  many  now  living;)  and 
several  daughters  married  to  Col.  Richard  Randolph, 
Col.  John  Fleming,  Dr.  William  Gay,  Mr.  Thomas 
Eldridge  and  Mr.  James  Murray.  This  genealogy 
is  taken  from  Stith  ;  and  he  shows  with  sufficient 
minuteness,  that  this  remnant  of  the  imperial  family 
of  Virginia,  which  long  survhed  in  a  single  person 
had  branched  out  into  a  very  numerous  progeny,  even 
as  early  as  1747.  The  Hon.  John  Randolph  of 
Roanoke  is,  if  we  mistake  not,  a  lineal  descendant  of 
the  princess  in  the  sixth  degree. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  77 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Sequel  of  (he  history  of  Opechancanougti — Renewal,  by  lnm 
and  Opitchipan,  of  the  treaty  of  peace — Finesse  by  which  he 
extended  his  dominion  over  tlie  Chickahominies — Prepara 
tions  for  War — Causes  of  it — Profound  dissimulation  under 
which  his  hostility  was  concealed — Indian  custom  of  making 
Conjurers — MonoRiivres  against  the  English  interest — The 
great  massacre  of  1622;  circumstances  and  consequences  of 
if — Particular  occasion  which  led  to  it — Character  and 
death  of  NKMATTANOW — Details  of  the  war  subsequent  to 
the  massacre — Truce  broken  bj  the  English — New  exertions 
of  Opechancanough— Battle  of  Pamunkey— Peace  of  1632 
— Massacre  of  1641 — Capture  of  Opechancanough  by  the 
English — His  death  and  character. 

CAPTAIN  Argall  brought  out  from  England,  among 
other  tiling?,  a  variety  of  presents  for  Opechanca 
nough,  who  seems  now  to  have  been,  notwithstanding 
that  Powhatan  was  still  living,  the  chief  object  of 
the  colony's  apprehension  and  regard.  He  lamented, 
as  the  Indians  did  universally,  the  untimely  fate  of 
their  favorite  princess ;  but  he  also  expressed  him 
self  satisfied  with  the  care  which  had  been  taken  of 
her  son.  Argall  sent  messengers  to  him  immediately 
on  his  arrival  at  Jamestown;  and  the  chieftain  paid 
him  a  visit,  and  received  his  presents.  Tomocomo, 
who  returned  with  Argall,  had  conceived  a  dislike 
for  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  and  lie  railed  violently  against 
him  in  particular,  as  he  did  against  the  English  in 
general ;  but  Opechancanough  either  was  or  affected 
'o  be  convinced,  that  his  anger  and  his  accusations 
were  equally  groundless.  On  the  death  of  Powhatan, 
in  1618,  both  himself  and  his  royal  brother  Opitehi- 
ptn  renewed  the  ancient  league  of  the  emperor 
with  the  English  ;  under  the  protection  of  which,  we 
are  told,  every  in;m  peaceably  followed  his  building 
and  planting,  without  any  remarkable  accidents  01 
interruption.* 


78  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

A  transaction  which  occurred  in  1616,  furnishes  the 
best  comment  we  can  give  upon  the  character  of 
Opechancanough.  Tt  appears,  that  President  Yeard- 
ly  at  that  time  undertook  to  relieve  the  necessities  of 
the  colony  by  collecting  tribute  of  the  Chickahomi- 
nies.  But,  for  some  reason  or  other,  that  warlike 
people  refused  to  pay  it;  and  even  sent  him  an 
answer  to  his  demand,  which  he  construed  into  an 
affront.  He  therefore  called  upon  them,  soon  after, 
with  a  company  of  one  hundred  soldiers,  well  armed. 
Some  threatening  and  bravado  ensued  on  both  sides, 
and  a  regular  battle  was  the  speedy  consequence. 
The  Indians  were  defeated,  and  as  Yeardly  was  re 
turning  to  Jamestown  with  his  spoil,  Opechanca 
nough  met  him,  and  artfully  effected  an  agreement 
with  him,  that  he  (Yeardly)  would  make  no  peace 
with  the  Chickahominies  without  his  consent.  He 
then  went  to  that  tribe,  and  pretended  that  he  had, 
with  great  pains  and  solicitation,  procured  a  peace 
for  them.  To  requite  this  immense  service,  as  it 
was  now  considered,  they  cheerfully  proclaimed  him 
King  of  their  nation,  and  flocked  from  all  quarters 
with  presents  of  beads  and  copper.  From  this  time 
he  was  content  to  be  entitled  the  King  of  Chicka- 
hominy  ;  and  thus  was  subjected  to  him,  with  their 
own  free  consent,  a  brave  and  resolute  people,  who 
had  successfully  resisted,  for  many  years,  the  power 
of  every  savage  and  civilized  foe. 

The  English  historians  generally  agree  in  repre 
senting  Opechancanough  as  an  inveterate  enemy  of 
the  English  from  first  to  last.  Such  may  have  been 
the  case  ;  and  he  might  have  had  what  appeared  to 
him  reason  and  occasion  enough  for  his  hostility. 
The  character  of  many  of  the  colonists  was  but  too 
well  calculated  to  thwart  the  best  intentions  on  the 
part  of  the  government,  however  peaceable  and  just 
might  be  their  theory  of  Indian  intercourse.  The 
discontent  of  Tomocomo  might  have  its  effect,  too, 
and  especially  among  the  mass  of  his  countrymen. 
The  pledge  of  harmony  which  had  existed  in  the 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  7b 

person  of  Pocahontas  was  forgotten.  But  alcove  all, 
Opechancanough  was  too  shrewd  a  man  not  to 
percieve,  in  the  alarming  disproportion  which  was 
daily  showing1  itself  between  the  power  oft  HP  Kr<rlish 
and  the  Indians  of  Virginia — independently  of  par 
ticular  provocations — a  sure  indication  of  the  neces 
sity  of  a  new  system  of  defence. 

Subsequent  events  confirm  this  conjecture.  No 
better  preparation  for  a  war  could  have  been  made 
on  the  chieftain's  part,  than  he  effected  in  the  sub 
mission  of  the  Chickahominies.  It  is  not  unlikely 
that  he  himself  instigated,  through  his  satellites,  the 
very  insolence  whereby  they  drew  upon  themselves 
that  severe  chastisement  from  the  colony,  which  in 
creased  his  own  influence  over  them  as  much  as  it. 
aggravated  their  hostility  to  the  English.  We  find 
that,  in  1618,  they  committed  several  outrages  of  a 
most  flagrant  character;  and  although  Opechanca 
nough,  who  was  applied  to  for  satisfaction,  promised 
to  send  in  the  heads  of  the  offenders,  this  WHS  never 
done,  and  it  may  be  questioned,  whether  he  was  not 
privy  to,  or  perhaps  the  chief  author  and  contriver 
of  the  whole  affair.  At  all  events,  historians  repre 
sent,  that  his  regal  authority  over  the  tribe  was  there 
by  "firmly  riveted  and  established." 

Still,  riot  only  had  the  artful  chieftain  given  no 
open  cause  of  offence  or  evidence  of  hostility;  but  he 
absolutely  succeeded,  as  we  have  seen,  in  completely 
quieting  the  suspicions  of  the  colonists.  In  1620, 
indeed,  we  find  it  recorded  in  the  journal  of  Mr. 
Holfe,  that  "now  Opechankanough  will  not  come  at  vs 
that  causes  vs  suspect  his  former  promises.''7  But  this 
little  uneasiness  was  wholly  done  away,  on  the  arrival 
of  Sir  Francis  Wyatt,  the  successor  of  Yeardly,  in 
1621.  That  gentleman  immediately  sent  messengers 
to  Opechancanough  and  Opttchipau,  who  hoth  ex 
pressed  great  satisfaction  ai  the  accession  of  the 
new  President,  and  cheerfully  renewed  their  former 
leagues  with  the  colony.  The  former  also  declared 
himself  pleased  with  the  idea  of  the  English  inhabit- 


80  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

ing  the  country  He  proposed,  by  way  of  amalga 
mating  the  two  nations,  that  some  of  the  white  fam 
ilies  should  settle  among  his  people,  while  some  of 
his  should  settle  at  Jamestown.  A  former  promise 
was  confirmed,  of  sending  a  guide  with  the  English 
to  certain  mines  represented  to  be  situated  above  the 
falls.  Nay,  so  far  was  the  deception  carried,  that 
"Mr.  Thorpe  [the  chief  messenger]  thought  he 
perceived  more  motions  of  religion  in  Opechanca- 
uough  than  could  easily  be  imagined,  in  so  great 
ignorance  and  blindness.  He  acknowledged  his  own 
religion  not  to  be  the  right  way  ;  and  desired  to  be 
instructed  in  the  Christian  faith.  He  confessed  that 
God  loved  the  English  better  than  them ;  and  he 
thought  the  cause  of  God's  anger  was  their  custom 
of  conjuring  their  children,  and  making  them  black 
603/5."* 

*  Allusion  seems  to  be  made  here  to  a  custom  which  is  sufficient 
ly  singular  to  deserve  some  description.  Smith  calls  it  a  yearly 
sacrifice  of  children.  A  ceremony  of  the  kind  which  was  perform 
ed  near  Jamestown  may  hest  be  described  in  his  own  words. 
"  Fifteene  of  the  properest  young  boyes,  betweene  ten  and  fifteene 
yeeres  of  age,  they  paynted  white.  Hauing  brought  them  forth, 
the  people  spent  the  forenoone  in  dauncing  and  singing  about  them 
with  rattles.  In  the  afternoone  they  put  those  children  to  the 
roote  of  a  tree.  By  them  all  the  men  stood  in  a  guard,  each  hauing 
a  Bastinado  in  his  hand,  made  of  reeds  bound  together.  This  made 
a  lane  betweene  them  all  along,  through  which  there  were  appoint 
ed  fine  young  men  to  fetch  these  children.  So  euery  one  of  the 
fiue  went  through  the  guard  to  fetch  a  childe,  each  after  other  by 
turnes,  the  guard  firecely  beating  them  with  their  Bastinadoes, 
and  they  patiently  enduring  and  receiuing  all,  defending  the  child 
ren  with  their  naked  bodies  from  the  vnmerciful  blowes,  that  pay 
them  soundly,  tho'  the  children  escape.  All  this  while,  the  women 
weepe  and  cry  out  very  passionately,  prouiding  mats,  skinnes, 
mosse  and  dry  wood,  as  things  fitting  their  childrens'  funerals 
After  the  children  were  thus  passed  the  guard,  the  guard  tore 
down  the  trees,  branches  and  boughs,  with  such  violence  that  they 
rent  the  body,  and  made  wreaths  for  their  heads,  or  bedecked 
their  hayre  with  the  leaues.  What  els  was  done  with  the  children 
was  not  scene,  but  they  were  all  cast  on  a  heape  in  a  valley  as 
dead,  where  they  made  a  great  feast  for  all  the  company.  The 
Werowance  being  demanded  the  meaning  of  this  sacrifice,  answer 
ed,  that  the  children  were  not  all  dead,  but  that  the  Okee.  or  Divill 
iid  sucke  the  bloode  from  their  left  breast,  who  chanced  to  be  his 
oy  lot,  till  they  were  dead  ;  but  the  rest  were  kept  in  the  wilder- 
nesse  by  the  young  men  till  nine  months  were  expired,  during 
which  time  they  must  not  converse  with  any,  and  of  these  were 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  81 

li  must  have  been  about  this  time  that  Opeehan 
canough  took  the  trouble  to  send  some  of  his  men 
to  a  sachem  on  the  eastern  shore,  for  a  quantity  of 
poison,  peculiar  to  that  region,  and  which  he  wished 
to  use  in  his  operations  against  the  English.*  This 
may  have  been  the  true  object  of  the  embassy  ;  and  it 
may  als-j  have  been  but  a  cover  for  sounding  the  dis 
position  of  the  eastern  tribes  towards  the  colony. 
Accordingly,  it  is  recorded  in  the  "Observations  of 
Master  John  Pory,  secretaire  of  Virginia,  in  his  trav 
els,"  that  Namenacus,  the  Sachem  of  Pawtuxent, 
made  an  application  to  the  colony,  in  1621,  for  the 
privilege  of  trading  with  them.  The  request  was  so 
tiir  attended  to,  that  the  English  promised  to  visit 
him  within  six  weeks.  Now  it  seems  that  their 
commerce  with  the  Indians  at  this  period  was  mostly 
carried  on  by  the  aid  of  one  Thomas  Salvage,  an 
interpreter,  and  the  same  man  whom  Smith  had 
left  with  Powhatan  fourteen  years  before.  The 
visit  took  place  according  to  promise,  and  it  was 
then  ascertained  that  Opechancanough  had  employ 
ed  one  of  his  Indians  to  kill  Savage.  The  pretence 
was,  "because  he  brought  the  trade  from  him  to  the 
eastenie  shore."  The  truth  probably  was,  that  the 
chieftain  was  jealous  of  the  English  influence  among 
the  iribes  of  that  region. 

i»ut  ihe  storm  which  had  been  gathering  ever 
smce  the  tleath  of  the  emperor,  was  at  length  ready 
to  burst  upon  the  devoted  colony.  Opechancanough 
had  completed  every  preparation  which  the  nature 
of  things  permitted  on  his  part ;  and  nothing  remain 
ed,  but  to  strike  the  great  blow  which  he  intended 
should  utterly  extinguish  the  English  settlements 
forever.  The  twenty-second  day  of  March,  1622— 
an  era  but  too  memorable  in  Virginian  history — was 
selected  for  the  time  ;  and  a  certain  hour  agreed 

made  their  Priest,-;  and  Coniurers."  Master  Pory  says,  in  his  Observa 
tions,  that  the  Acromacks  were  a  civil  and  tractable  people  :  "  not 
<Joe  they  vse  that  dr.ui1  'ish  custonie  in  makimr  Black  Boves  " 
*  Stith. 
10—6 


82  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

upon,  to  ensure  a  simultaneous  assault  in  every  di 
rection.  The  various  tribes  engaged  in  the  conspir 
acy  were  drawn  together,  and  stationed  in  the  vicini 
ty  of  the  several  places  of  massacre,  with  a  celerity 
and  precision  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  the  conti 
nent.  Although  some  of  the  detachments  had  to 
march  from  great  distances,  and  through  a  continued 
forest,  guided  only  by  the  stars  and  moon,  no  single 
instance  of  disorder  or  mistake  is  known  to  have 
happened.  One  by  one,  they  followed  each  other 
in  profound  silence,  treading  as  nearly  as  possible  in 
each  other's  steps,  and  adjusting  the  long  grass  and 
branches  which  they  displaced.*  They  halted  at 
short  distances  from  the  settlements,  and  waited  in 
death-like  stillness  for  the  signal  of  attack. 

That  was  to  be  given  by  their  fellow-savages, 
who  had  chosen  the  same  morning  for  visiting  the 
different  plantations,  in  considerable  numbers,  for 
the  purpose  of  ascertaining  their  strength  end  pre 
cise  situation,  and  at  the  same  time  preventing  any 
suspicion  of  the  general  design.  This,  it  should  be 
observed,  had  recently  become  too  habitual  a  prac 
tice  with  the  Indians,  to  excite  suspicion  of  itself. 
The  peace  was  supposed  to  be  inviolable.  The 
savages  were  well  known  to  be  in  no  condition  for 
a  war ;  and  had  shown  no  disposition  for  one.  The 
English,  therefore,  while  they  supplied  them  gene 
rally  with  whatever  they  asked  for,  upon  fair  terms, 
neglected  to  prepare  themselves  for  defence.  They 
were  so  secure,  that  a  sword  or  a  firelock  was  rarely 
to  be  met  with  in  a  private  dwelling.  Most  of  their 
plantations  were  seated  in  a  scattered  and  straggling 
manner,  as  a  water-privilege  or  a  choice  vein  of  rich 
land  invited  them ;  and  indeed  it  was  generally 
thought,  the  further  from  neighbors,  the  better. 
The  Indians  were  daily  received  into  their  houses, 
fed  at  their  tables,  and  lodged  in  their  bedchambers; 
and  boats  were  even  lent  them  previous  to  the  twen 

Burk. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  83 

ty-second,  as  they  passed  backwards  and  forwards 
for  the  very  purpose  of  completing  the  plan  of  ex 
tirpation. 

The  hour  being  come,  the  savages,  knowing  ex 
actly  in  what  spot  every  Englishman  was  to  be 
found,  rose  upon  them  at  once.  The  work  of  death 
was  commenced,  and  they  spared  neither  sex  nor 
age,  man,  woman  nor  child.  Some  entered  the 
houses  under  color  of  trade.  Others  drew  the 
owners  abroad  upon  various  pretences ;  while  the 
rest  fell  suddenly  on  such  as  were  occupied  in  their 
several  labors.  So  quick  was  the  execution,  that 
few  perceived  the  weapon  or  blow  which  despatched 
them.  And  thus,  in  one  hour  and  almost  at  the 
same  instant,  fell  three  hundred  and  forty-seven 
men,  women  and  children  ;  most  of  them  by  their 
own  arms,  and  all,  (as  Stith  observes,)  by  the  hands 
of  a  naked  and  timid  people,  who  durst  not  stand  the 
presenting  of  a  staff  in  the  manner  of  a  firelock,  in 
the  bauds  of  a  woman. 

Those  who  had  sufficient  warning  to  make  re 
sistance,  saved  their  lives.  Nathaniel  Causie,  an  old 
soldier  of  Captain  Smith's,  though  cruelly  wounded, 
cleaved  down  one  of  his  assailants  with  an  axe ; 
upon  which  the  whole  party  who  had  surrounded 
him  fled,  and  he  escaped.  At  another  place,  two 
men  held  possession  of  a  house  against  sixty  Indians. 
At  Warrasqueake,  a  Mr.  Baldwin,  whose  Vife  was 
so  badly  wounded  that  she  lay  for  dead,  by  repeated 
ly  discharging  his  musket  drove  off  the  enemy,  and 
saved  botb  her  and  himself.  Ralph  Hamer,  the  his 
torian,  defended  himself  in  his  house,  successfully, 
with  spades,  axes  and  brickbats.  One  small  family, 
living  near  Martin's  Hundred,  where  as  many  as 
seventy-three  of  the  English  were  slain,  not  only 
escaped  the  massacre,  but  never  heard  any  thing  of 
it  until  two  or  three  days  afterwards.  Jamestown 
and  some  of  the  neighboring  places  were  saved  by 
the  disclosure  of  a  Christian  Indian  named  Chanco 


84  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

who  V7v-  confidentially  informed  of  the  design  by 
his  broth  >v,  on  the  morning  of  the  22d. 

Such  was  the  evidence  which  Opechancanougk 
gave  of  his  deep-rooted  hatred  of  the  English.  Ana 
yet,  such  was  his  profound  dissimulation,  that  so  late 
as  the  middle  of  March,  he  treated  a  messenger  sent 
to  him  from  the  President  with  the  utmost  civility, 
assuring  him  he  held  the  peace  so  firm,  that  the  sky 
would  fall  sooner  than  it  should  be  violated  on  his 
part.  Mr.  Thorpe,  an  excellent  man,  Avho  had  taken 
a  peculiar  interest  in  christianizing  the  Indians, 
supposed  that  he  had  gained  the  especial  favor  of 
Opechancanough  by  building  him  a  very  neat  house 
after  the  English  fashion  ;  in  which  he  tool;  such 
pleasure,  as  to  lock  and  unlock  his  door  a  hundred 
times  a  day.*  He  seemed  also  to  be  pleased  with 
the  discourse  and  company  of  Mr.  Thorpe,  and  ex 
pressed  a  desire  to  requite  some  of  his  kindness. 
Nevertheless,  the  body  of  this  unfortunate  man  was 
found  among  the  slain.  Only  two  days  before  the 
massacre,  the  Indians  guided  a  party  of  the  English 
through  the  woods,  and  sent  home  one  who  had 
lived  among  them  to  learn  their  language.  On  the 
very  morning  of  the  fatal  day,  as  also  the  evening 
before,  they  came,  as  at  other  times,  unarmed  into 
the  houses  of  the  English,  with  deer,  turkeys,  fish, 
fruits  and  other  things  to  sell  ;  and  in  some  places 
sat  down  to  breakfast  with  the  same  persons  whom 
they  rose  up  to  tomahawk. 

The  particular  occasion — as  the  historians  consider 
it — of  the  conspiracy,  is  too  characteristic  to  !>•» 
omitted.  There  was  a  noted  Indian,  named  NE- 
MATTANOW,  who  was  wont,  out  of  vanity  or  some 
unaccountable  humor,  to  dress  himself  up  with 
feathers,  in  a  most  barbarously  fantastic  manner. 
This  habit  obtained  for  him  among  the  English  the 
name  of  Jack-of-the-feather.  He  was  renowned 
among  his  countrymen  both  for  courage  and  cun- 

*  Stidi. 


1INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  85 

rung,  and  was  esteemed  the  greatest  war-captain  of 
those  times.  But,  what  was  most  remarkable,  although 
he  had  been  in  many  skirmishes  and  engagements 
with  the  English,  he  had  always  escaped  without  a 
wound.  From  this  accident,  seconded  by  his  own 
ambition  and  craft,  he  obtained  at  length  the  reputa 
tion  of  being  invulnerable  and  immortal. 

Early  in  1622,  Nemattanow  came  to  the  house  of 
one  Morgan,  who  kept  and  sold  a  variety  of  well- 
selected  commodities  for  the  use  of  the  Indians. 
Smitten  with  a  strong  desire  to  obtain  some  of  them. 
Nemattanow  persuaded  Morgan  to  accompany  him 
to  Pamunkey,  on  the  assurance  of  an  advantageous 
traffic  at  that  place.  On  the  way,  he  is  supposed  to 
have  murdered  the  trader.  Within  two  or  three 
days,  he  returned  again  to  the  house  of  his  victim, 
where  were  only  tw7o  stout  young  men,  servants  of 
Morgan,  at  home.  They,  observing  that  he  wore 
their  master's  cap  on  his  head,  inquired  after  him ; 
and  Jack  told  them  frankly  he  was  dead. 

Confirmed  in  their  previous  suspicions  by  this 
declaration,  they  seized  him,  and  endeavored  to  carry 
him  before  Mr.  Thorpe,  who  lived  at  a  neighboring 
settlement.  But  their  prisoner  troubled  them  so 
much  by  his  resistance,  and  withal  provoked  them 
so  intolerably  by  his  bravadoes,  that  they  finally  shot 
him  down,  and  put  him  into  a  boat,  in  order  to  con 
vey  him  the  remaining  seven  or  eight  miles  of  the 
way.  But  the  Indian  soon  grew  faint ;  and  finding 
himself  surprised  by  the  pangs  of  death,  he  request 
ed  his  captors  to  stop.  In  his  last  moments  he  most 
earnestly  besought  of  them  two  great  favors ;  first, 
never  to  make"  it  known  that  he  was  killed  by  a 
bullet ;  and  secondly,  to  bury  him  among  the  English, 
that  the  certain  knowledge  and  monument  of  his 
mortality  might  still  be  concealed  from  the  sight  of 
his  countrymen.  So  strong  was  the  ruling  passion 
in  death. 

Opechancanough  was  so  far  from  being  a  par 
ticular  friend  of  Nemattenow  that  he  had  given  the 


86  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

President  to  understand,  by  a  messenger,  sometime 
before  the  transaction  just  related,  that  he  should 
consider  it  a  favor  in  /rnn,  if  he  would  take  measures 
to  have  Jack  despatched.  The  popularity  of  the 
war-captain  was  the  only  reason  why  he  forbore  to 
take  such  measures  himself.  Nevertheless,  with  a 
consummate  wiliness  he  availed  himself  of  this 
same  popularity,  on  the  death  of  his  rival — as  Jack 
seems  to  have  been — the  better  to  inflame  and  exas 
perate  the  Indians  against  the  whites.  He  affected 
to  be  excessively  grieved  at  his  death,  and  for  some 
time  was  unusually  loud  in  his  declarations  of  resent 
ment  and  his  threats  of  revenge.  A  messenger  came 
from  the  President,  to  ascertain  what  was  intended 
by  these  demonstrations  of  hostility,  and  again  all 
WHS  quiet  as  before  ;  nothing  could  induce  the  Sa 
chem  to  violate  the  vast  regard  which  he  had  always 
entertained  for  the  English.  About  the  same  time  he 
gave  them  liberty,  by  negotiation,  to  seat  themselves 
any  where  on  the  shores  of  the  rivers,  within  his 
dominions,  where  the  natives  had  no  villages.  The 
treaty  he  had  already  made  for  the  discovery  of 
mines,  as  well  as  for  mutual  friendship  and  defence, 
was  at  his  request  engraven  on  a  brass  plate,  and 
fastened  to  one  of  the  largest  oaks  growing  upon  his 
territories,  that  it  might  be  had  always  in  remem 
brance.* 

For  several  years  after  the  massacre,  a  war  was 
waged  between  the  colonists  and  the  savages,  °o  \r- 
veterate  and  ferocious  as  to  transmit  a  mutual  abhor 
rence  and  prejudice  to  the  posterity  of  both.  The 
former  obtained  at  this  period  the  name  of  the  LONG- 
KNIVES,  by  which  they  were  distinguished  to  a  very 
late  day  in  the  hieroglyphic  language  of  the  natives. 
Every  precaution  and  preparation  was  taken  and 
made  upon  both  sides,  in  view  of  a  desperate  conflict. 
Orders  were  issued  by  the  government,  from  time  to 
time,  directing  a  general  vigilance  and  caution  against 

*Beiknap's  Ain.  Blog.  p.  64,  Vol.  II. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  87 

ihe  en«my  who  now  engrossed  all  thought ;  nml 
especially  prohibiting  the  waste  of  arms  and  ammu 
nition.  The  remnants  of  the  settlements  were  drawn 
together  into  a  narrower  compass.  Of  eighty  plant 
ations  all  were  abandoned  but  six,  which  lay  contig 
uons  at  the  lower  part  of  James  river;  and  three 
or  four  01  hers,  of  which  the  owners  or  overseers, 
refusing  to  obey  public  orders,  intrenched  them 
selves,  and  mounted  cannon  for  their  own  separate 
defence.* 

A  considerable  space  of  territory  between  the  Vir 
ginians  and  the  savage  tribes,  was  wasted  with  fire, 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  laying  bare  the  stealthy 
approaches  of  the  enemy,  who,  under  cover  of  the 
long  grass  and  underwood,  and  the  gigantic  shield 
of  the  oak  and  cypress,  had  heretofore  been  able  to 
advance  un perceived,  and  rise  up  in  attack  almost 
from  under  the  very  feet  of  the  English.  But  even 
a  boundary  of  fire  could  not  always  restrain  the  fury, 
nor  elude  the  skill,  of  the  Indians.  Wisely  content 
with  short  and  sudden  incursions,  for  plunder  and 
revenge  rather  than  conquest,  they  frequently  suc 
ceeded  in  carrying  off  the  corn  and  cattle  of  the 
colonists,  and  sometimes  their  persons  into  captivity 
They  were  themselves,  on  the  other  hand,  hunted 
like  beasts  of  prey.  No  prisoners  were  made  ;  no 
quarter  was  given. 

From  the  time  of  the  massacre,  Opechancanough 
seems  no  longer  to  have  taken  the  least  trouble  to 
conceal  his  hostility.  He  returned  a  haughty  answer 
to  the  first  demand  made  upon  him  for  the  redemp 
tion  of  the  English  captives  ;  and  trampled  under  foot 
the  picture  of  the  English  monarch,  which  was  sent 
to  him  as  a  compliment.  Late  in  1622,  when  Captain 
Croshaw  was  trading  on  the  Potomac,  with  the  only 
tribe  which  was  now  willing  to  carry  on  commerce, 
he  had  scarcely  landed  from  his  vessel,  when  a  mes 
senger  arrived  from  Opechancanough  to  Japazaws, 

*  Fin-chas  V.  1792. 


88  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

(king  of  the  Patawomekes,)  bearing  two  baskets  of 
beads  as  a  royal  present,  and  soliciting  the  king  to 
murder  his  new  visitants  on  the  spot.  He  was  as 
sured,  that  whether  he  did  his  part  or  not,  before  the 
end  of  two  moons,  there  should  not  be  an  Englishman 
left  in  the  whole  country.  Japazaws  first  disclosed 
the  message  to  his  guest ;  arid  then,  after  thinking  and 
talking  of  it  two  days,  made  answer  that  the  English 
were  his  friends,  and  Opitchipan  (the  Powhatan  em 
peror)  his  brother  ;  and  therefore  there  should  be  no 
more  blood  shed  between  them  by  his  means.  The 
beads  were  returned  by  the  messenger. 

After  this,  the  colonists  had  their  season  of  success  ; 
and  more  Indians  are  said  to  have  been  slain  during 
the  autumn  and  winter  of  1622 — 3,  than  had  ever 
before  fallen  by  the  hands  of  the  English,  since  the 
settlement  of  Jamestown.*  But  the  course  adopted 
by  the  civilized  party  sufficiently  indicates  the  despe 
rate  state  of  their  affairs.  They  availed  themselves 
of  a  stratagem  worse  than  barbarous  in  its  principle, 
however  circumstances  might  be  supposed  in  this 
case  to  justify  it.  A  peace  was  offered  to  the  enemy 
and  accepted ;  but  just  as  the  corn  which  the  latter 
were  thus  induced  to  plant,  was  beginning  to  grow 
ripe,  the  English  fell  upon  them  in  all  directions  at 
a  given  hour  of  an  appointed  day,  killed  many,  and 
destroyed  a  vast  quantity  of  provisions.  Several  of 
the  greatest  war-captains  were  among  the  slain  ;  and 
for  sometime  Opechancanough  himself  was  report 
ed  to  be  one.  This  rumor  alone,  so  long  as  believed, 
was  equal  to  a  victory  ;  "  for  against  him,  "  says  the 
historian,  "  was  this  stratagem  chiefly  laid." 

Such  language  furnishes  evidence  enough  of  the 
apprehension  which  his  movements  and  reputation 
had  excited.  But  he  gave  more  substantial  reasons 
for  the  respect  which  he  still  wrested  from  his  enemy 
by  his  prowess.  A  battle  took  place  at  his  own 
village  of  Pamunkey,  in  1625,  in  which  the  main 

•Stith. 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHV.  89 

body  of  the  savages  numbered  eight  hundred  bow 
men,  independently  of  detachments  from  remote 
tribes ;  and  though  the  English,  led  on  by  Governor 
Wyatt  iu  person,  succeeded  in  driving  the  enemy 
from  the  field,  they  were  unable  to  pursue  them  even 
as  far  as  Matapony.  That  town  was  their  principal 
depot  and  rallying  point,  and  the  acknowledged 
inability  to  reach  it,  though  but  four  miles  distant, 
proves  that  the  battle  was  by  no  means  decisive.  It 
appears  from  this  affair,  too,  that  all  the  efforts  of 
the  English,  during  an  inveterate  war  of  three  years, 
had  not  driven  the  tribes  even  from  the  neighborhood 
of  their  own  settlements.  What  was  more  discour 
aging,  Opechancanough  was  not  to  be  deceived  a 
second  time  by  the  arts  of  diplomacy.  In  1628,  the 
governor's  proclamation,  which  announced  the  ap 
pointment  of  commissioners  to  negotiate  with  the 
enemy,  declared  expressly  an  intention  to  repeat  the 
stratagem  of  1622 ;  *  but  the  plan  failed  of  success, 
and  the  Pamunkies  and  Chickahominies — most  im 
mediately  under  the  influence  of  Opechancanough 
— were  more  troublesome  at  this  period  than  ever 
before. 

Four  years  afterwards,  the  same  tribes  made  an 
irruption  so  furious  and  alarming,  that  every  twenti 
eth  man  was  despatched,  under  the  command  of  the 
governor,  to  parley  with  them — a  term  in  the  records 
which  shows  forcibly,  as  Burk  observes,  the  respect 
this  brave  people  had  inspired.  Kut  Opechanca 
nough  was  still  implacable  ;  and  when,  in  the  course 
of  1632,  a  peace  was  at  last  formally  concluded,  so 
little  dependence  was  placed  on  that  circumstance, 
that  even  while  the  commissioners  on  both  sides 
were  adjusting  the  preliminaries,  a  proclamation 
was  issued,  forbidding  the  colonists  either  to  parley 
or  trade  with  the  Indians. 

This  truce  or  treaty  was  understood  to  be  on  both 
sides  a  temporary  expedient ;  but  the  chieftain  was 


*  Ancient  Records  of  Virginia. 


90  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

the  first  to  take  advantage  of  it.  During  nine  years 
he  remained  quietly  making  his  preparations  for  the 
conflict  which  his  sagacity  told  him  must  some  day 
or  other  be  renewed.  The  hour  at  length  arrived. 
The  colony  was  involved  in  dissensions.  Insurrec 
tions  had  taken  place.  The  governor  was  unpopu 
lar,  and  the  people  were  unprepared  and  heedless. 
Opechancanough  lost  not  a  moment  in  concerting 
measures  for  effecting  at  a  single  blow  the  bloody, 
but  in  his  bosom  noble  design,  which  had  already 
engrossed  the  solicitude  and  labor  of  so  large  a  part 
of  his  life. 

He  was  now  advanced  in  years,  but  his  orders  were 
conveyed  with  electric  rapidity  to  the  remotest  tribes 
of  the  great  confederacy  associated  under  his  influ 
ence.  With  the  five  nearest  his  own  location,  and 
most  completely  under  his  control,  he  resolved  to 
make  the  principal  onset  in  person.  The  more  dis 
tant  stations  were  assigned  to  the  leading  chiefs  of 
the  several  nations  ;  and  thus  the  system  of  a  war 
that  raged  from  the  mouth  of  the  Chesapeake  to  the 
heads  of  all  the  great  rivers,  which  flow  into  it,  was 
so  simple  as  to  render  confusion  impossible.  The 
whole  force  was  let  loose  upon  the  entire  line  of  the 
English  settlements  at  nearly  the  same  instant  of 
time.  Five  hundred  persons  perished  in  the  mas 
sacre.*  Many  others  were  carried  into  captivity. 
The  habitations,  corn,  household  utensils,  instru 
ments  of  farming,  every  thing  essential  to  comfort, 
and  almost  every  thing  necessary  to  life,  was  con 
sumed  by  fire.  But  for  circumstances  in  the  situa 
tion  of  the  settlements,  over  which  Opechancanough 
had  no  control,  and  which  he  could  not  guard  against, 
the  fate  of  Virginia  had  been  decided  by  this  single 
blow. 

As  it  was,  every  other  labor  and  thought  were 
suspended  in  the  terrors  of  an  Indian  war.  The 
loom  was  abandoned.  The  plough  was  left  in  ita 

*  Beverly's  History,  p.  49. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  91 

furrow.  All  who  were  able  to  bear  aims  were 
embodied  as  a  militia  for  the  defence  of  the  colony , 
and  a  chosen  body,  comprising  every  twentieth  man, 
marched  into  the  enemy's  country  under  Governor 
Berkeley's  personal  command.  The  operations  of 
the  war,  which  raged  thenceforth  without  any  inter 
mission  until  the  death  of  Opechancanough — and 
that  alone  was  expected  to  end  it — are  detailed  by  no 
historian.  The  early  Virginian  records  which  re 
main  in  manuscript  are  altogether  silent  respecting 
this  period  ;  and  the  meagre  relation  of  Beverly  is 
the  only  chronicle  which  has  survived  the  ravages 
of  time.  This  circumstance  of  itself  sufficiently  in 
dicates  the  confusion  and  dismay  of  the  era. 

Opechancanough,  whose  last  scene  now  rapidly 
approaches,  had  become  so  decrepid  by  age,  as  to  be 
unable  to  walk,  though  his  spirit,  rising  above  the 
ruins  of  his  body,  directed,  from  the  litter  upon  which 
his  Indians  carried  him,  the  onset  and  the  retreat  of 
his  warriors.  The  wreck  of  his  constitution  was 
at  length  completed  by  the  extreme  fatigues  encoun 
tered  in  this  difficult  and  laborious  service.  His 
flesh  became  macerated  ;  his  sinews  lost  their  elas 
ticity  ;  and  his  eyelids  were  so  heavy  that  he  could 
not  see,  unless  they  were  lifted  up  by  his  faithful 
attendants.  In  this  forlorn  condition  he  was  closely 
pursued  by  Berkeley  with  a  squadron  of  horse,  and 
at  length  surprised  and  taken.  He  entered  James 
town,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  as  the  most  con 
spicuous  figure  in  the  conqueror's  triumph. 

To  the  honor  of  the  English,  they  treated  their 
distinguished  captive  with  the  tenderness  which  his 
infirmities  demanded,  and  the  respect  which  his 
appearance  and  talents  inspired.  They  saw  the 
object  of  their  terror  bending  under  the  load  of 
years,  and  shattered  by  the  hardships  of  war;  and 
they  generously  resolved  to  bury  the  re-membrance 
of  their  injuries  in  his  present  melancholy  reverse 
of  fortune.  His  own  deportment  was  suitable  to  his 
former  glory,  and  to  the  principles  of  an  Indian  hero 


92  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

He  disdained  to  utter  complaint  or  to  manifest 
uneasiness.  He  believed  that  tortures  were  prepar 
ing  for  him  ;  but  instead  of  any  consequent  reduc 
tion  in  his  haughtiness,  his  language  and  demeanoi 
bespoke  the  most  absolute  defiance  and  contempt. 

But  generally  he  shrouded  himself  in  reserve  ;  and 
as  if  desirous  of  showing  his  enemies  that  there  was 
nothing  in  their  presence  even  to  rouse  his  curiosity, 
and  much  less  to  excite  his  apprehensions,  he  but 
rarely  permitted  his  eyelids  to  be  lifted  up.  He 
continued  in  this  state  several  days,  attended  by  his 
affectionate  Indian  servants,  who  had  begged  permis 
sion  to  wrait  upon  him.  But  his  long  life  of  near  an 
hundred  years*  was  drawing  to  its  close.  He  was 
basely  shot  through  the  back  by  one  of  the  soldiers 
appointed  to  guard  him,  from  no  other  provocation 
than  the  recollection  of  his  ancient  hostility. 

To  the  last  moment  his  courage  remained  un 
broken.  The  nearer  death  approached,  the  more 
care  he  seemed  to  use  in  concealing  his  dejection, 
and  preserving  the  dignity  and  serenity  of  his  aspect. 
Only  a  few  minutes  before  he  expired,  he  heard  an 
unusual  bustle  in  the  room  where  he  was  confined. 
Having  ordered  his  attendants  to  raise  his  eyelids,  he 
discovered  a  number  of  persons  crowding  round  him, 
for  the  purpose  of  gratifying  an  unseasonable  curi 
osity.  The  dying  chief  felt  the  indignity,  but  dis 
daining  to  notice  the  intruders  he  raised  himself  as 
well  as  he  could,  and  with  a  voice  and  air  of 
authority,  demanded  that  the  governor  should  be 
immediately  brought  in.  When  the  latter  made  his 
appearance,  the  chieftain  scornfully  told  him,  that 
"  had  it  been  his  fortune  to  have  taken  Sir  William 


*  So  write  some  historians,  hut  as;  he  is  understood  to  have 
been  younger  than  Powhatan,  the  estimate  is  possibly  too 
large  by  ten  or  twenty  years.  It  is  said  that  Berkeley  had 
proposed  taking  him  to  England,  as  a  living  argument  to  coun 
teract  the  representations  made  in  that  country  as  to  the  an- 
healthiness  of  the  Virginian  climate. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  93 

Berkeley  prisoner,  he.  should  not  have  exposed  him  as 
a  show  to  his  people"* 

Such  was  the  death  of  Opechancanough.  His 
character  is  too  well  explained  by  his  life  to  require 
any  additional  comment.  His  own  countrymen  were 
more  extensively  and  more  completely  under  his 
influence  than  they  had  been  under  that  of  Powhatan 
himself.  This  is  the  more  remarkable  from  the  fact 
that  Opitchipan,  whose  age  and  family  at  least  en 
titled  him  to  some  deference,  retained  the  nominal 
authority  of  emperor  so  long  as  he  lived.  Beverley 
jays,  that  Opechancanough  was  not  esteemed  by  the 
Indians  to  be  in  any  way  related  to  Powhatan ;  and 
that  they  represented  him  as  the  prince  of  a  foreign 
nation  residing  at  a  great  distance  somewhere  in  the 
Southwest.  lie  might  be  an  emigrant  or  an  exile 
from  the  empire  of  Mexico,  or  from  some  of  the 
tribes  between  that  region  and  Virginia.  The  same 
historian  describes  him  as  a  man  of  large  stature, 
noble  presence  and  extraordinary  parts.  Stith  calls 
him  a  politic  and  haughty  prince.  Burk  entitles 
him  the  HANMBAL  of  VIRGINIA. 

He  was  perhaps  the  most  inveterate  and  trouble 
some  enemy  which  any  of  the  American  colonies 
iiave  ever  met  with  among  his  race.  The  general 
causes  which  made  him  so,  independently  of  his 
inherent  talents  and  principles,  are  to  be  looked  for  in 
the  situation  of  the  tribes  under  his  command,  and 
especially  in  the  relations  existing  between  them  and 
the  colonists.  He  saw,  that  either  the  white  or  the 
red  man  must  sooner  or  later  establish  an  exclusive 
superiority ;  and  he  very  reasonably  decided  upon 
doing  all  in  his  own  power  to  determine  the  issue  in 
favor  of  his  country  and  himself.  But  more  particu 
lar  provocations  were  not  wanting.  Even  after  the 
peace  of  16M(>,  great  as  the  anxiety  was  for  its  preser 
vation,  "  the  subtle  Indians,"  says  Beverley,  "  resented 
tk<;  encroachments  on  them  by  Hervey^s  grants."  A 


*  Beverlev. 


94  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

late  historian  expresses  himself  in  warmer  terms.  Lt 
was  not  enough,  he  writes,  that  they  had  ahandoned 
to  their  invaders  the  delightful  regions  on  the  sea 
shore,  where  their  fathers  had  been  placed  by  the 
bounty  of  heaven — where  their  days  had  rolled  on 
in  an  enchanting  round  of  innocence  and  gayety — 
where  they  had  possessed  abundance  without  labor, 
and  independence  without  government.  The  little 
that  remained  to  them  was  attempted  to  be  wrested 
from  them  by  the  insatiable  avarice  and  rapacity  of 
their  enemies.* 

*  Burk,  Vol.  II. 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  95 


CHAPTER  V. 

Biography  of  other  Virginian  chieftains — OPITCHIPAN— 
Some  particulars  respecting  ToMOCOMO — His  visit  to 
England,  interview  with  Captain  Smith,  and  return  to 
America — JAPAZAVVS,  chief  sachem  of  the  Fatowomekes — 
His  friendship  for  the  English — 111  treatment  which  he  re 
ceived  from  them — TOTOPOTOMOI,  successor  of  Opechan- 
canough — His  services — His  death  in  1656 — Notices  of 
several  native  chiefs  of  North  Carolina — GRANGANIMO, 
who  dies  in  1585 — MKNATENON,  king  of  the  Chowanock? 
— ENSKNOKJE,  father  of  Granganimo;  and  WINGINA,  his 
brother — Plot  of  the  latter  against  the  Hatteras  colony— 
His  death — Comment  on  the  Carolinian  Biography. 

THE  characters  we  have  heretofore  noticed  are  far 
the  most  prominent  in  the  Indian  history  of  Virginia. 
Indeed,  they  arc  almost  the  only  ones  which  have 
been  preserved  with  distinctness  enough  to  excite 
much  interest  in  them  as  individuals.  Still,  there 
are  several  which  ought  not  to  he  wholly  passed 
by;  and  the  want  of  a  vivid  light  and  coloring  in 
some  of  them,  may  perhaps  be  compensated,  at 
least,  by  the  appearance  of  milder  qualities  than  are 
predominant  in  the  portraitures  we  have  hitherto 
sketched. 

The  extant  information  respecting  certain  members 
of  the  Powhatan  family,  whose  history  has  not  been 
concluded,  may  soon  be  detailed.  Opitchipan  is  not 
mentioned  subsequently  to  the  great  battle  of  Pa- 
munkey,  in  1025,  when  for  the  first  time  he  appears 
to  have  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  his  countrymen, 
jn  opposition  to  the  English.  As  the  name  of 
Opechancanough  in  not  even  alluded  to  in  the  records 
of  that  period,  it  may  be  presumed  he  was  accident 
ally  absent.  Generally,  he  seems  to  have  been  out 
of  favor  with  his  reigning  brother,  and  to  have  con 
tended  against  his  influence,  such  as  it  was,  in  all 
his  designs  hostile  to  the  colony.  Opitchipan  ttisap- 


96  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

proved  of"  the  great  massacre  of  1622  ;  and  early  in 
the  ensuing  season  we  find  him  sending  in  Chanco, 
the  Christian  convert  who  disclosed  the  conspiracy 
in  that  case,  with  a  message  to  Governor  Wyatt,  that 
if  he  would  send  ten  or  twelve  men,  he  would  give 
up  all  the  English  prisoners  in  his  possession— 
(which,  as  we  have  seen,  Opechancanough  had  re 
fused  to  do.)  He  even  promised  to  deliver  up  his 
implacable  brother — if  brother  he  was — bound  hand 
and  foot.  "  Captain  Tucker,"  says  Stith, "  was  accor 
dingly  sent  upon  this  service,  but  without  the  desired 
success.  However,  Opitchipan  sent  back  Mrs.  Boyce, 
naked  and  unapparelled,  in  manner  and  fashion  like 
one  of  their  Indians."  So  insignificant,  even  with 
these  savages,  was  the  power  of  mere  family  rank,  as 
opposed  to  the  authority  of  reputation  and  talent. 

One  of  the  chief  counsellors  and  priests  of  Pow- 
hatan,  and  the  husband  of  his  daughter  Matachanna, 
was  TOMOCOMO,  who  went  to  England  with  Poca- 
hontas,  and  returned  with  Captain  Argall.  Smith, 
who  calls  him  Vttamatomakkin,  says  he  was  held  by 
his  countrymen  to  be  "  a  very  understanding  fellow." 
The  same  inference  might  be  made  from  the  corn- 
mission  which  Powhatan  gave  him,  on  the  occasion 
just  alluded  to,  to  take  the  number  of  the  people  in 
England,  and  to  bring  him  an  exact  and  minute 
account  of  their  strength  and  resources.  Tomocomo 
set  about  that  business  with  equal  simplicity  and 
zeal.  Immediately  on  his  arrival  at  Plymouth,  he 
procured  a  long  stick,  whereupon  to  cut  a  notch 
with  his  knife  for  every  man  he  should  see.  But  he 
soon  became  weary  of  his  task,  and  threw  his  stick 
away.  When  the  emperor  inquired,  on  his  return, 
how  many  people  there  were,  he  could  only  compare 
them  to  the  stars  in  the  sky,  the  leaves  on  the  trees, 
and  the  sands  on  the  sea-shore. 

Mr.  Purchas.  (compiler  of  the  famous  collection 
of  voyages,)  was  informed  by  President  Dale,  with 
Avhoin  Tomocomo  went  out  from  Virginia,  that 
Opechancanough,  and  not  Powhatan,  had  given  him 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  91 

his  instructions;  and  that  the  object  of  them  was 
not  so  much  to  ascertain  the  population,  as  to  form 
an  estimate  of  the  amount  of  corn  raised,  and  01 
forest  trees  growing  in  England.  Nomantack  and 
the  other  savages  who  had  previously  visited  that 
country,  being  ignorant,  and  having  seen  little  of  the 
British  empire  except  London,  had  reported  a  very 
large  calculation  of  the  men  and  houses,  while  they 
said  almost  nothing  about  the  trees  and  corn.  It 
was  therefore  a  general  opinion  among  the  Indians, 
that  the  English  had  settled  in  Virginia  only  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  supplies  of  these  two  articles  ; 
and  in  confirmation,  they  observed  their  continual 
eagerness  after  corn,  and  the  great  quantities  of  cedar, 
clapboards,  and  wainscoting,  which  they  annually 
exported  to  England.  Tomocomo  readily  undeceived 
his  countrymen  upon  this  point.  Landing  in  the 
west  of  England  in  summer,  and  travelling  thence 
to  London,  he  of  course  saw  evidences  of  great  agri 
cultural  and  rural  plenty  and  wealth  ;  and  was  soon 
obliged  to  abandon  the  account  he  had  undertaken 
to  keep — his  arithmetic  failing  him  on  the  first  day. 

In  the  British  metropolis,  he  met  accidentally  with 
Captain  Smith  ;  and  the  two  immediately  renewed 
their  ancient  acquaintance.  Tomocomo  told  the  cap 
tain,  that  Powhatan  had  given  orders  to  request  of 
him — if  indeed  he  was  not  dead,  as  reported—  the 
favor  of  showing  Tomocomo  the  English  God,  and 
also  their  King,  Queen  and  prince,  of  whom  they 
had  formerly  conversed  so  often  together.  "As  to 
God,"  as  Stith  expresses  it,  "  Captain  Smith  excused 
and  explained  the  matter  the  best  he  could."  As  to 
the  king,  he  told  Tomocomo  he  had  already  seen 
him,  which  was  true.  But  the  Indian  denied  it ;  and 
it  was  not  without  some  trouble  that  Smith,  by  men 
tioning  certain  circumstances,  convinced  him  of  the 
fact.  The  Indian  then  assumed  a  most  melancholy 
look,  "  Ah  !  "  said  he,  "  you  presented  Powhatan  a 
white  dog  which  he  fed  as  himself.  Now,  I  am  cer 
tainly  better  than  a  white  dog ;  but  your  king  has 
10—7 


38  IIV'DIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

given  me  nothing."  Such  an  arch  sense,  adds  the 
historian,  had  this  savage  of  the  *  stingy'  treatment  he 
had  received  at  court.  Nothing  is  known  of  Tomo- 
como  after  his  return  to  America. 

The  most  constant  friend  and  ally  of  the  Virginian 
English,  for  twenty  years  from  the  settlement  of 
Jamestown,  was  JAPAZAWS,  the  Sachem— -or,  as  the 
old  writers  call  him,  the  king — of  the  Potomacs  or 
Patowomekes.  He  was  a  person  of  great  influence 
and  authority  on  the  whole  length  of  the  river  which 
bears  to  this  day  the  name  of  his  tribe ;  being  in  fact 
a  kind  of  petty  emperor  there,  and  always  affecting 
to  treat  Powhatan  and  the  other  emperors  rather  as 
brethren  than  superiors.  He  had  two  hundred 
bowmen  in  his  own  village,  at  the  date  of  the  great 
massacre.  The  entire  population  which  was  more 
or  less  subject  to  him,  appears,  though  somewhat 
indistinctly,  from  Smith's  account  of  his  first  inter 
view  with  the  Sachem  and  his  people,  in  3608. 

"The  J6th  of  lune,"  he  writes,  "we  fell  with  the 
riuer  Patowomek.  Feare  being  gone  and  our  men 
recouered,  we  were  al  content  to  take  some  paines 
to  know  the  name  of  that  seuen-mile  broad  riuer. 
For  thirtie  miles  sayle  we  could  see  no  inhabitants. 
Then  we  were  conducted  by  two  Salvages  vp  a  little 
bayed  creeke  towards  Onawmanaient,  where  al  the 
woodes  were  layd  with  ambuscadoes  to  the  number 
of  three  or  foure  thousand  Salvages,  so  strangely 
paynted,  grimed  and  disguised,  shouting,  yelling  and 
crying  as  so  many  spirits  from  hell  could  not  haue 
showed  more  terrible.  Many  brauacloes  they  made, 
but  to  appease  their  furie,  our  captaine  prepared  with 
as  seeming  a  willingness  as  they  to  encounter  them. 
But  the  grazing  of  our  bullets  vpon  the  water  (many 
being  shot  on  purpose  they  might  see  them)  with 
the  ecco  of  the  woodes,  so  amazed  them,  as  dowue 
went  their  bowes  and  arrowes ;  and  (exchanging 
hostages)  lames  Watkins  was  sent  six  myles  vp  the 
woodes  to  their  Kw^s  Wbhat;on.  We  were  kindly 
vsed  of  those  Salr  "\'  nf  v7  t>m  we  vnderstood 


iNDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  9P 

were  commanded  to  betray  us  by  the  direction  of 
Powhatan."  After  this,  he  was  supplied  with  plenty 
of  excellent  provisions  by  the  subjects  of  Japazaws, 
and  furnished  by  that  sachem  himself  with  guides  to 
conduct  his  party  up  some  of  the  streams.  Finally, 
he  "kindly  requited  this  kinde  king  and  al  his  kinde 
people." 

Thus  auspiciously  commenced  a  valuable  ac 
quaintance  ;  and  it  is  eminently  worthy  of  observa 
tion,  with  what  fidelity  of  friendship  the  English 
were  repaid  for  the  courtesy  shown  to  this  intelligent 
barbarian,  and  for  the  justice  done  to  his  subjects. 
Ever  afterwards,  they  sustained  the  English  cause, 
and  supplied  the  English  necessities,  when  all  the 
rest  of  their  countrymen  were  willing  neither  to 
treat  nor  trade  upon  any  terms.  When  Argall  ar 
rived,  in  1014,  for  example,  "  he  was  sent  to  the 
riuer  Patawomeake,"  (as  Master  Hamer  calls  it,) 
"  to  trade  for  corne,  the  Salvages  about  vs  bailing 
small  quarter,  1  .it  friends  and  foes  as  they  found 
aduantage  and  opportunitie."  Then,  Argall  "  hau- 
ing  entred  into  a  great  acquaintance  with  Japazaws, 
an  old  friend  of  Captaine  Smith's,  and  so  to  all  our 
nation,  ever  since  bee  discouevered  the  countrie," 
the  negotiation  ensued  which  resulted,  as  we  have 
heretofore  shown,  in  getting  possession  of  the  person 
of  Pocahontas,  and  thereby  ultimately  effecting  a 
general  peace. 

The  warmth  of  the  Sachem's  gratitude  perhaps 
caused  him  to  lay  too  little  stress  on  the  hospitality 
due  to  a  princess  and  a  guest — if  guest  she  was — but 
the  struggle  which  attended  the  bargain,  and  the 
sorrow  which  followed  it,  both  show  that  Japazaws 
was  not  without  principle  or  feeling.  The  argument 
which  probably  turned  the  balance  in  his  mind,  re 
spected  the  prospect  of  a  treaty  to  be  brought  about 
by  means  of  Pocahontas,  in  which  she  and  Powhat 
an  had  much  more  interest  than  himse'f.  The 
bright  copper  kettle  was  a  subordinate  consideration, 
though  not  a  slight  one.  We  have  seen,  that  the 


100  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

Powhatan  Sachems  were  willing  to  barter  almost 
their  birthright  for  a  pound  or  two  of  blue  beads. 
At  all  events,  Japazaws  must  have  credit  for  the  deli 
cate  arrangement  by  which  the  princess  was  first 
notified  of  her  forlorn  condition.  "lapazaws  treading 
oft  on  the  Captaine' s  foot,  to  remember  he  had  done 
his  part,  the  captaine,  when  he  saw  his  time,  per 
suaded  Pocahontas  to  the  gun-roome,  faining  to  have 
some  conference  with  lapazaws,  which  was  only  that 
shee  should  not  percieue  hee  was  any  way  guiltie  of  her 
captiuitie." 

In  1619,  lapazous  —  so  called  by  master  John 
Rolfe — came  to  Jamestown,  for  the  first  time,  to 
desire  that  two  ships  might  be  sent  to  trade  in  his 
river,  corn  being  more  abundant  than  for  a  long 
time  before.  Parties  were  sent,  .accordingly  ;  but, 
for  some  reasons,  not  explained,  they  met  with  in 
different  success  in  the  commerce,  and  so  concluded 
to  take  eight  hundred  bushels  of  corn  by  force. 
That  Japazaws  was  not  much  in  fault,  would  appear 
from  the  circumstance  that  he  had  no  part  in  the 
great  conspiracy  of  1622 ;  immediately  after  which 
we  find,  that  Captain  Croshavv  went  up  the  Potomac, 
"  where  lie  intended  to  stay  and  trade  for  himself  by 
reason  of  the  long  acquaintance  he  had  with  this 
King,  that,  so  earnestly  entreated  him  now  to  be  his 
friend,  his  countenancer  his  captaine  and  director 
against  the  Pazaticans,  the  Nacotchtanks  arid  Moya- 
ons,  his  mortall  enemies."* 

Croshaw  gladly  availed  himself  of  this  invitation, 
first  for  the  sake  of  conducting  his  commerce  to 
advantage,  and  secondly,  for  the  purpose  of  "keeping 
the  king  as  an  opposite  to  Opechancanough."  It 
was  soon  afterwards,  that  the  chieftain  last  named  sent 
his  messengers  to  Japazaws,  with  presents  of  beads, 
and  proposals  of  alliance  against  the  English — both 
which  were  rejected.  Then  we  are  told,  that  "  Cap 
taine  Hamer  arriuing  with  a  ship  arid  a  pinnace  a 

*  Smith's  History,  Vol.  II. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  10l 

Patawomeke,  was  kindly  entertained  both  by  him 
[Croshaw]  and  the  king."  The  two  were  living 
snugly  together  at  this  time  ;  using  common  efforts 
for  supplying  the  colony — or  at  least  the  captain — 
on  the  one  hand,  and  for  suppressing  the  king's 
enemies,  as  named  above,  on  the  other.  Their 
union  was  at  length  interrupted  by  the  machinations 
of  an  exile  Sachern,  who  had  taken  refuge  at  Poto 
mac  from  the  discontent  of  his  own  subjects.  Angry 
with  Japazaws  for  not  assisting  him  in  the  recovery 
of  his  dominion,  he  forged  an  artful  story  about 
Japazaws  and  his  tribe  having  recently  leagued  with 
Opechancanough. 

That  story  he  told  to  one  Isaac  Madison,  who 
had  just  been  sent  to  Potomac  by  Governor  Wyatt, 
with  a  reenforcement  of  thirty  men,  and  a  commis 
sion  expressly  charging  him  to  assist  the  Patovvo 
mekes  against  their  enemies,  and  to  protect  them  and 
their  corn  to  his  utmost  power.  To  give  his  false 
hood  the  air  of  probability,  this  savage  lago  cunning 
ly  commented  upon  certain  circumstances  which 
had  recently  occurred.  Madison  was  at  length  so 
much  alarmed,  that  sending  for  Japnzawsto  his  own 
strong-house  (which  Japazaws  himself  had  assisted 
him  in  fortifying,)  he  locked  in  the  Sachem,  his  son, 
and  their  four  attendants,  set  over  them  a  guard  of 
soldiers,  and  then  made  a  violent  and  bloody  assault 
upon  the  neighboring  village  of  the  Indians.  The 
king  remonstrated,  but  in  vain.  He  denied  all  the 
charges  brought  against  him,  to  no  purpose.  Madi 
son  then  led  him  and  the  other  five  prisoners  to  his 
ship,  promising  to  set  them  at  liberty  as  soon  as  his 
men  were  safely  aboard.  The  king  meanwhile  pre 
vented  his  subjects  from  annoying  the  English  on  the 
way.  But,  contrary  to  all  good  faith,  the  captives 
were  carried  to  Jamestown,  and  detained  there  till 
the  following  October,  when  they  were  taken  home 
by  Captain  Hamer  and  ransomed  with  a  quantity  of 
<?orn.  Madison  was  prosecuted  afterwards  for  his 
infamous  conduct,  but  never  punished..  ..TUa-P 


102  INDIAN      BIOGRAPHY 

oniekes  must  of  course  have  been  estranged  oy  it 
from  the  English  interest,  though  there  is  no  evi 
dence  of  their  ever  opposing  them  in  arms.  Japazaws 
kept  himself  aloof,  and  is  no  more  mentioned  in 
h  istory. 

The  death  of  Opechancanough  was  a  signal  for 
the  dissolution  of  the  famous  confederacy  which  it 
had  required  the  whole  genius  of  that  chieftain  and 
his  predecessor  to  form  and  maintain.  The  tribes 
relapsed  into  their  former  state  of  separate  govern 
ment  ;  and  no  formidable  leader  ever  again  roused 
them  to  union.  The  nominal  successor  of  Opechan 
canough  was  TOTOPOTOMOI,  whom  we  do  not  find 
even  mentioned  until  after  a  lapse  of  ten  years  from 
his  accession.  The  ancient  records  of  Virginia  show, 
that  in  1651,  an  Act  of  Assembly  was  passed,  assigning 
and  securing  to  Totopotomoi  such  lands  on  York 
river  as  he  should  choose  ;  and  commissioners  were 
appointed  to  conduct  him  and  his  attendants  in  safety 
to  J;unestown,  and  from  that  place  home  again,  after 
the  adjustment  of  the  treaty.  The  termination  of  his 
reign  and  life  was  as  follows.  Five  years  subsequent 
to  the  date  last  mentioned,  and  after  an  interval  of 
profound  peace  with  the  Indians  which  had  continu 
ed  for  fifteen  years,  information  was  suddenly  receiv 
ed  at  Jamestown,  that  a  body  of  inland  or  mountain 
savages,  called  Rechahecrians,  to  the  number  of  six 
or  seven  hundred,  had  seated  themselves  near  the 
falls  of  James  river,  with  the  apparent  intention  of 
forming  a  regular  settlement.  The  motives  of  this 
singular  movement  have  never  been  explained.  It 
is  only  known,  that  it  gave  no  little  alarm  to  the 
colonists ;  and  that  active  preparations  were  made 
for  driving  the  new  enemy  back  to  their  own  territo 
ries.  A  campaign  ensued,  and  a  battle  was  fought ; 
and  in  this  battle  fell  the  king  of  the  Powhatans,  gal 
lantly  fighting  in  aid  of  the  English,  at  the  head  of 
one  hundred  warriors.  Victory  declared  for  the 
Rechahecrians,  but  a  peace  was  soon  after  negotiated 
with  them  on  terms  satisfactory  to  both  parties. 


IXDIAX    BIOGRAPHY  103 

Totopotomoi  has  at  least,  his  name  immortalized 
by  the  author  of  Hudibras,  who  introduced  him  (to 
make  out  a  rhyme,)  in  his  noted  allusion  to  a  certain 
scandal  upon  the  New  England  colonists. 

A  precious  brother  having  slain. 
In  time  of  peace,  an  Indian, 

***** 

The  mighty  TOTTIPOTIMOY 
Sent  to  our  elders  an  envoy, 
Complaining  sorely  of  the  breach 
Of  league,  held  forth  by  brother  Patch. 

*         *         * 

For  which  he  craved  the  saints  to  render 
Into  his  hands,  or  hang,  the  offender. 
But  they,  maturely  having  weighed, 
They  had  no  more  but  him  of  the  trade— 
A  man  that  served  them  in  a  double 
Capacity,  to  preach  and  cobble — 
Resolved  to  spare  him  ;  yet  to  do 
The  Indian  Hogan  Mogan  too 
Impartial  Justice,  in  his  stead  did 
Hang  an  old  weaver  that  was  bed-rid. 

We  may  certainly  be  amused  with  the  wit  of  the 
satirist  in  this  case,  without  insisting  upon  a  strict 
proof  of  his  statements. 

Such  is  the  meagre  biography  of  the  last  of  the 
Virginian  chieftains.  We  shall  close  this  chapter 
with  some  particulars  respecting  two  or  three  of  the 
principal  Indians  known,  at  an  earlier  date,  to  the 
first  colonists  of  Carolina.  One  of  these  was  WIN- 
GINA,  the  king  of  a  considerable  tract  of  territory 
called  Wingandacoa,  bordering  upon  Albemarle 
Sound.  Another  was  GRANGANIMO,  the  brother  of 
Wiugina.  Not  much  information  is  extant  concern 
ing  either  of  these  persons ;  but  the  little  which  is 
known  derives  an  additional  interest  both  from  the 
style  of  the  ancient  writers  of  that  period,  and  from 
the  circumstance  that  the  foreign  settlements  which 


104  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

ed  to  this  partial  acquaintance  were  among  the  verj 
first  upon  the  continent. 

On  the  27th  of  April,  1584,  Philip  Amidas  and 
Arthur  Barlow  sailed  from  the  west  of  England,  as 
commanders  of  two  barks,  fitted  out  by  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  for  the  purpose  of  exploring  a  vast  tract 
of  country  granted  to  him  by  a  patent  from  Queen 
Elizabeth,  of  the  March  previous.  Taking  the 
usual  route  by  way  of  the  Canaries  and  West  Indies, 
they  approached  the  coast  of  the  Southern  States, 
(now  so  called,)  on  the  second  of  July,  (enjoying  for 
a  day  or  two  "  a  most  delicate  sweete  smell  "  from 
the  shore.^  After  sailing  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  north,  they  entered  the  first  harbor  they  met 
with,  returned  thanks  to  God  for  their  safe  arrival, 
went  to  view  the  neighboring  land,  and  then  took 
possession  of  it,  formally,  "  for  the  Queene's  most  ex 
cellent  majestic."  "  Which  done,"  writes  our  ancient 
chronicler,  "they  found  their  first  landing-place  sandy 
and  low,  but  so  full  of  grapes  that  the  very  surge  of 
the  sea  sometimes  overflowed  them  ;  of  which  they 
found  such  plenty  in  all  places,  on  the  sand,  the 
greene  soyle  and  hils.  as  in  the  plaines,  as  well  on 
euery  little  shrub  as  also  climbing  towardes  the  tops 
of  high  cedars,  that  they  did  thinke  in  the  world 
were  not  the  like  abundance." 

This  beautiful  spot  was  the  island  of  Wococon, 
supposed  to  be  the  same  now  called  Ocracock.  The 
newly  arrived  adventurers  wandered  over  every  part 
of  it  with  mingled  feelings  of  amazement  and  de 
light.  Goodly  woods  covered  the  green  bosom  of 
its  quiet  valleys.  There,  we  are  told,  were  the  high 
est  and  reddest  cedars  of  the  world,  "  bettering  them 
of  Azores  or  Libanus.  There,  were  Pynes,  Cypres, 
Saxefras,  the  Lentisk  that  beareth  mastick,  arid  many 
other  of  excellent  smelle  and  qualitie.  Then  there 
were  deere  and  conies,  and  fowl  in  such  incredible 
abundance,  that  the  discharge  of  a  musket  would 

*  See  the  Collections  of  Hackluyt. 


INDlaN     BiOURAPHY  105 

raise  a  flock  of  them  from  under  the  very  feet  of  the 
travellers,  with  a  noise,  'as  if  an  army  of  men  had 
shouted  altogether.' " 

On  the  third  day,  three  of  the  natives  appeared  In 
a  canoe,  one  of  whom  went  fearlessly  aboard  an 
English  hark.  The  crew  could  hold  no  conversation 
with  him  ;  hut  they  gave  him  a  shirt,  a  hat,  wine  and 
meat.  These  he  liked  exceedingly ;  and  so  having 
satisfied  his  curiosity  with  gazing,  he  paddled  oft'  to 
the  distance  of  half  a  mile.  He  there  loaded  his  boat 
with  fish  in  a  short  time,  then  landed  on  a  point  near 
by,  divided  his  booty  into  two  heaps — "  pointing  one 
heap  to  the  ship,  and  the  other  to  the  pinnace" — and 
then  departed.  This  pacific  interview  was  followed 
with  happy  consequences.  The  next  day  Granga- 
nimo  appeared,  with  forty  or  fifty  of  his  people. 
He  came  to  the  point  with  his  train,  and  seated  him 
self  upon  a  mat.  A  party  of  the  English  went  ashore, 
well  armed ;  but  instead  of  showing  any  indications 
of  suspicion  or  fear,  he  made  signs  to  them  to  be 
seated  at  his  side — stroking  their  heads  and  breasts, 
as  also  his  own,  no  doubt  in  testimony  of  his  good 
will.  He  then  made  a  long  speech  to  his  new  visi 
tants—probably  of  welcome — and  they  presented  di 
vers  gewgaws  to  him  in  return,  which  he  politely 
accepted.  He  was  so  much  regarded  by  his  attend 
ants,  that  none  of  them  would  sit  or  even  speak  in 
his  presence,  with  the  exception  of  four.  To  them 
the  English  gave  other  presents ;  but  they  were 
immediately  put  into  Granganirno's  hands,  who  sig 
nified,  with  an  air  of  dignity,  that  every  thing  of  this 
nature  must  be  at  his  own  disposal. 

At  the  next  interview,  the  English  entertained 
him  with  a  display  of  many  commodities  calculate*1 
to  dazzle  and  surprise  him.  But  none  of  then 
struck  his  fancy  like  a  large  bright  pewter  dish 
plate,  and  a  copper  kettle,  for  the  former  of  whicn 
h3  gave  twenty  deer-skins,*  and  for  the  latter  fifty 

*Then  valued  at  a  crown  each.     The  anecdote  reminds  one 
of  JAPAZAWS. 
I.— I 


106  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHV 

He  made  a  hole  in  the  plate,  and  hung  it  about  his 
neck  for  a  breastplate.  Much  other  "truck"  passed 
between  the  parties,  in  such  good  humor  and  good 
faith,  that  in  the  course  of  a  day  or  two  a  meeting 
took  place  on  board  one  of  the  vessels,  and  the 
Sachem  ate,  drank  and  made  merry  with  the  En 
glish,  like  one  of  their  own  number.  Not  long  after 
wards,  he  brought  his  wife  and  children,  who  are 
described  as  slender,  but  well-favored  and  very  mod 
est.  The  wife  wore,  as  her  husband  did,  a  band  of 
white  coral  on  her  forehead,  and  in  her  ears  brace 
lets  of  pearl,*  "  hanging  down  to  her  middle,  of  the 
size  of  large  peas."  Her  female  followers  had  pen 
dants  of  copper ;  and  the  noblemen — as  those  who 
seemed  to  be  leading  characters  among  the  males 
are  entitled — had  five  or  six  in  each  ear.  All  were 
dressed  alike  in  skins.  The  women  wore  their  hair 
long  on  both  sides  of  the  head ;  the  men,  only  on 
one. 

The  next  step  in  the  acquaintance,  and  a  very 
natural  one,  was  that  great  numbers  of  people  began 
to  come  in  from  various  parts  of  the  neighboring 
coast,  bringing  skins,  coral  and  different  kinds  of 
dyes  for  sale ;  none  of  which,  however,  any  of  them 
but  the  noblemen  ("them  that  wore  red  copper  on 
their  heads,  as  he  did,")  would  undertake  to  barter 
m  presence  of  Granganimo  himself.  The  character 
of  the  Sachem  showed  itself  more  and  more  to  ad 
vantage  at  every  interview.  With  a  very  considerate 
end  civil  regard  for  the  comfort  of  the  English,  he 
never  paid  them  a  visit  without  previously  signify 
ing  the  number  of  boats  he  should  bring  with  him, 
by  fires  kindled  upon  the  shore  ;  so  that  his  strength 
might  be  exactly  estimated.  He  invariably  kept, 
with  perfect  punctuality,  every  promise  which  he 
made  in  the  course  of  traffic,  as  he  also  regularty 
sent  to  the  vessels,  daily,  a  gratuitous  fresh  supply 

*  So  called  by  the  early  writers  on  various  occasions.  Prob 
ably  they  were  shells,  or  rock-crystal,  or  something  oi  that 
kind. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  107 

ot  provisions — generally  a  brace  of  bucks,  conies, 
rabbits,  and  fish  ;  and  sometimes  melons,  walnuts, 
cucumbers,  pears  and  other  roots  and  fruits.  Final 
ly,  he  invited  the  English  to  visit  him  at  his  own 
residence,  on  the  north  end  of  an  island  called 
Koanoke,  distant  about  twenty  miles  from  the  harbor 
first  made  by  the  colonists. 

The  invitation  was  promptly  accepted  by  a  party 
of  eight  of  the  English.  They  found  Granganimo  s 
village  to  consist  of  nine  houses,  built  of  cedar,  and 
fortified  with  sharp  palisades,  "and  the  entrance  like 
a  turn  pi  k."  The  Sachem  himself  was  absent  when 
they  arrived  ;  but  his  wife  came  out  eagerly  to  meet 
them.  Some  of  her  people  she  commanded  to  draw 
their  boat  ashore,  that  it  might  not  suffer  from  the 
sea's  dashing;  others  to  carry  the  English  on  their 
backs  tli rough  the  surf,  and  put  away  their  oars 
under  cover.  Meanwhile  she  conducted  her  guests 
into  a  house  containing  five  apartments.  As  they 
were  wet  with  rain,  she  had  a  large  fire  kindled  in 
an  inner  apartment,  washed  their  feet  and  their 
clothes,  and  then  served  up  a  bountiful  dinner  in 
another  room.  "  She  set  on  the  bord  standing  along 
the  house  somewhat  like  frumentie,  sodden  venison 
and  rosted  fish  ;  and  in  like  manner  mellons  raw, 
hoyled  rootes,  and  fruites  of  diners  kindes." 

She  manifested  the  utmost  anxiety  for  the  comfort 
of  her  guests.  While  they  were  eating,  two  or  three 
Indians  happened  to  enter,  with  bows  and  arrows, 
upon  which  the  English  started  up  and  laid  hold  of 
Jieir  arms.  She  perceived  their  distrust,  but  instead 
of  being  offended,  caused  the  weapons  of  the  intruders 
to  be  snapped  asunder,  and  themselves  to  be  beaten. 
Still  the  company  did  not  feel  perfectly  at  home,  and 
towards  evening  they  retired  to  their  boat.  This 
e^rieved  her  riot  a  little  ;  but  she  sent  them  a  supper. 
When  she  saw  them  jealously  pushing  off  some  rods 
from  the  shore  for  a  safe  anchorage,  she  sent  them 
mats  to  shelter  them  from  the  rain,  and  directed  a 
guard  of  her  people  to  watch  during  the  night  upon 


108  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

the  shore.  On  the  whole,  it  has  been  justly  observed, 
that  there  is  scarcely  in  all  history  a  picture  of  un 
affected  and  generous  hospitality  more  striking  than 
this. 

Wingina,  meanwhile,  lay  at  his  chief  town,  ill  of 
wounds  he  had  recently  received  in  battle  ;  and  the 
English  saw  nothing  of  him.  Nor  was  any  thing 
more  seen  of  Granganimo,  until  April  of  the  next 
year,  when  Sir  Richard  Grenville  brought  out  a  col 
ony  of  one  hundred  and  eight  persons,  whom  he  left 
on  the  Carolinian  shore  at  Hatteras.  Granganimo 
then  came  on  board  his  ship  in  his  usually  friendly 
and  fearless  manner.  But  it  was  his  last  visit.  He 
died  during  the  year  1585. 

This  event  produced  a  great  alteration  of  affairs 
in  the  colony.  They  were  settled  on  Roanoke,  an 
island  at  the  mouth  of  Albernarle  Sound,  and  that 
situation  made  it  quite  convenient  for  them  to  visit 
the  coast  and  the  country  in  various  directions,  which 
they  were  instructed  to  do.  They  explored,  there 
fore,  in  the  course  of  their  expeditions,  as  far  south 
as  beyond  Pamlico  river;  and  as  far  north  as  the 
territory  of  the  Chesapeaks,  on  the  bay  of  their  own 
name.  They  also  went,  up  Albemarle  Sound  and 
Chowan  river,  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles,  to  a 
nation  of  Indians  called  Chowanocks,  living  above 
the  junction  of  the  Nottaway  and  the  Meherrin. 

We  mention  these  particulars  for  the  sake  of  in 
troducing  MENATENON,  the  king  of  the  tribe  last 
named.  His  province  is  described  as  the  largest  on 
the  whole  length  of  the  river;  and  the  town  of 
Chowanock,  it  is  said,  could  bring  seven  hundred 
bowmen  into  the  field.  Menatenon  was  lame — owing 
probably  to  a  wound  in  battle — but  writes  an  old 
chronicler  "  he  had  more  understanding  than  all  the 
rest."  He  amused  the  colonists,  and  especially  their 
governor,  Mr.  Lane,  with  a  story  about  a  copper  mine 
and  a  pearl  fishery,  somewhere  along  the  coast.  He 
also  gave  a  strange  account  of  the  head  of  the  river 
Moratuc,  (now  called  the  Roanoke,)  where  lived  a 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  109 

king  (he  affirmed,)  whose  country  bordered  on  the 
sea,  and  who  took  such  an  abundance  of  pearls  from 
it,  that  not  only  his  skins  and  his  noblemen's,  but 
his  beds  and  his  houses  were  garnished  with  that 
ornament.  Mr.  Lane  expressed  a  wish  to  see  a 
specimen  of  them  ;  but  Menatenou  readily  replied, 
that  the  king  of  that  rich  country  reserved  them  ex 
pressly  for  trading  with  white  men.* 

The  source  of  the  Moratuc  was  described  as 
springing  out  of  a  vast  rock,  standing  so  near  the 
sea,  that  in  storms  the  surges  beat  over  it.  As  for 
the  copper,  that  he  said  was  generally  collected  in 
great  bowls,  covered  with  skin,  at  a  place  particularly 
described,  and  yielded  two  parts  of  metal  for  three 
of  ore.  There  might  be  a  shadow  of  foundation  for 
some  of  these  relations ;  but  the  chief  object  of 
Menatenon — who  was  a  captive  among  the  colonists 
at  the  time  of  his  making  them — must  have  been  to 
render  himself  an  important  man  in  their  eyes,  and 
perhaps  to  lead  them  into  some  hazardous  enterprise. 
Hearing  them  talk  much  about  mines  and  pearls, 
and  the  South  Sea — which  were  all  hobbies  with 
the  credulous  adventurers  of  that  period — he  adapted 
his  discourse  accordingly,  and  his  eager  hearers 
were  simple  enough  to  believe  every  thing  he  as- 
eerted.t 

They  even  undertook  the  proposed  expedition  in 
search  of  the  copper  mine  and  the  South  Sea ;  and 
had  actually  advanced  nearly  two  hundred  miles  up 


*  "  This  King  was  at  Chowanock  two  yeares  agoe  to  trade 
with  blacke  pcarle,  his  worst  sort  whereof  I  had  a  rope, 
but  they  were  naught;  but  that  king  he,  [Menatenon]  sayth 
hath  store  of  white,  and  had  trafiicke  with  white  men,  for 
wnom  he  reserved  them." 

t  "  The  Mangoaks  haue  such  plentie  of  it,  they  beautifie 
their  houses  with  great  plates  thereof :  this  the  salvages  report; 
and  young  Shiko,  the  King  Chawonocks  sonne  my  prisoner, 
that  had  been  prisoner  among  the  Mangoaks,  &c.  *  *  * 

Menatenon  also  confirmed  all  this,  and  promised  mt 
guides  to  thin  mettall  '•ouM/ry,  %-c. 


110  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

the  country,  before  famine  and  fatigue,  ana  the 
hostility  of  innumerable  savages  compelled  them  to 
turn  about.  It  seems  that  Wingina  had  heard  of 
this  expedition — perhaps  from  Menatenon  —  and 
like  that  cunning  though  crippled  Sachem,  he  did 
all  in  his  power  to  make  it  both  specious  in  prospect 
and  fatal  in  result.  After  having  said  every  thing 
to  excite  the  curiosity  and  avarice  of  the  colonists, 
till  he  saw  them  determined  to  go,  he  sent  word  to 
the  different  powerful  tribes  living  on  their  proposed 
route,  that  the  English  were  coming  against  them ; 
and  that  the  sooner  they  suppressed  this  new  enemy, 
the  better.  Hence  it  was,  that  the  party  several 
times  came  very  near  being  cut  off  by  the  savages ; 
and  hence,  instead  of  being  plentifully  supplied  with 
choice  provisions,  as  expected,  they  were  glad  to 
live  several  days  upon  two  dogs  '  boiled  down  with 
saxefras  leaves.' 

Fortunately  for  the  colony,  several  circumstances 
concurred  in  the  period  of  distress  which  succeeded 
this  enterprise,  to  prevent  Wingina  from  making 
open  war  upon  them.  One  was  the  influence  of 
his  father,  ENSENORE,  the  best  friend,  next  to  Gran- 
ganimo,  whom  the  English  had  ever  found  among 
the  natives.  But  the  safe  return  of  the  expedition 
made  a  stronger  impression  upon  the  mind  of  Win 
gina.  Rumors  had  been  circulated  that  the  party 
were  all  starved  or  slain  ;  and  then  he  had  "begun 
to  blaspheme  our  God  that  would  suffer  it,  and  not 
defend  vs,  so  that  old  Ensenore  had  no  more  credit 
for  vs ;  for  he  began  by  al  the  deuises  he  could  to 
inuade  vs."*  But  the  return  of  the  expedition  after 
having  defeated  all  enemies — "asswaged  a  little  his 
deuises,  and  brought  Ensenore  in  respect  againe 
that  our  God  was  good,  and  wee  their  friends,  and 
our  foes  should  perish,  &c." 

The  last  observation  suggests  another  circumstance 

*  See  the  journal  of  Governor  Lane,  as  preserved  in  the  old 
collections. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  Ill 

which  went  to  restrain  the  enmity  of  the  chieftain. 
This  was  a  mortal  epidemic,  of  unknown  character, 
which  prevailed  exclusively  among  the  Indians,  arid 
carried  off  great  numbers.  The  colonists  had  the 
art  to  make  these  simple  beings  regard  it  as  a  punish 
ment  for  the  hostility  hitherto  manifested  towards  the 
English.  Wingina  himself,  who  lived  in  the  imme 
diate  vicinity  of  the  colony,  was  exceedingly  over 
borne  by  his  superstition.  Twice  he  was  very  sick, 
and  came  near  dying.  He  then  dismissed  the  priests 
who  usually  attended  him,  and  sent  for  some  of  the 
English  to  pray  for  him,  and  to  be — as  Master  Heriot 
expresses  it,  in  his  "Observations"  upon  this  voyage — 
"a  rnecnes  to  our  God  that  hee  might  line  with  him 
after  death."  He  supposed  that  he  had  offended  the 
Deity  of  the  English  by  his  blasphemy.  They  were 
themselves  in  great  repute,  of  course.  "  This  rnaruei- 
lous  accident  in  all  the  country  wrought  so  strange 
opinion  of  vs  that  they  could  not  tell,  whether  to 
thinke  vs  Gods  or  men."  Of  the  two,  they  considered 
the  former  most  probable,  for  the  whites  having  no 
women  among  them,  the  inference  in  their  minds 
was,  that  instead  of  being  born  of  women,  they  were 
men  of  an  old  generation  many  years  past,  and  risen 
again  from  immortality.*  All  which,  we  are  told,  so 
changed  the  heart  of  PEMTSSAPAN  ( — a  name  assumed 
by  Wingina  since  the  death  of  Granganimo — )  that, 
at  Ensenore's  suggestion,  when  the  English  were 
reduced  to  extremities  for  want  of  footl,  he  sent  in 
his  subjects  to  make  fish- weirs  for  them,  and  to  plant 
the  fields  they  had  hitherto  thought  of  abandoning. 
But  in  April,  1586,  Ensenore  died  ;  and  as  Wingina 
had  now  completely  recovered  his  health,  and  most 
of  the  enemies  which  the  colony  had  among  the 
tribes  took  this  opportunity  of  renewing  their  machi 
nations,  he  relapsed  into  his  former  hostility.  Ar 
rangements  were  made  for  collecting  seven  or  eight 
hundred  Indians,  under  pretence  of  solemnizing  tire 

*  Heriot 


112  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

funeral  of  Ensenore.  Half  of  them  were  to  lie  in 
ambush  for  those  of  the  colonists  who  daily  straggled 
along  the  coast  in  pursuit  of  crabs,  fish  and  other 
provisions.  The  other  detachment  was  to  assault 
the  settlement  of  Roanoke,  at  a  signal  by  fire  in  the 
night.  Even  the  particular  houses  were  allotted  to 
be  burned  by  particular  persons  or  parties.  Twenty 
were  charged  to  beset  the  dwelling  of  Governor  Lane, 
and  fire  the  reeds  which  covered  it ;  this  would  bring 
him  out,  naked  and  unarmed,  and  then  they  could 
despatch  him  without  danger.  The  same  order  was 
made  for  Mr.  Heriot's,and  various  other  habitations, 
which  were  to  be  fired  at  the  same  instant.  In  the 
meantime,  as  it  was  of  great  consequence  to  reduce 
the  strength  of  the  colony  by  dispersing  it,  Wingina 
provided  for  breaking  up  the  weirs,  and  strictly  pro 
hibited  all  trade  in  provisions.  He  kept  himself 
aloof  also  with  a  similar  view. 

The  plan  was  well  concerted,  and  not  without  suc 
cess.  The  Governor  was  soon  obliged  to  send  oft' 
twenty  of  the  colonists  to  a  part  of  the  coast  called 
Croatan,  merely  that  they  might  collect  the  means  of 
their  own  sustenance.  Ten  more  were  sent  to  Hatte- 
ras  for  the  same  purpose  ;  and  other  small  companies 
scattered  themselves  about  on  the  seacoast,  to  gather 
oysters  and  roots.  But  the  ingenuity  of  the  civilized 
party,  driven  to  desperation,  finally  prevailed  against 
the  chieftain's  naked  shrewdness.  The  Governor 
sent  him  word  he  was  going  to  Croatan,  to  meet  an 
English  squadron  which  had  touched  there  with 
supplies,  covering  the  object  of  this  fabrication  by 
also  requesting  the  services  of  a  few  Indians  to  fish 
and  hunt  for  the  colony.  Desirous  of  gaining  time, 
Wingina  promptly  replied,  that  he  would  himself 
visit  Mr.  Lane  in  eight  days.  No  doubt  he  expected 
to  complete  his  conspiracy  in  this  interval. 

Bat  the  Governor  was  not  so  to  be  deceived.  He 
resolved,  on  the  contrary,  to  pay  the  Sachem  a  visit 
the  next  day  after  receiving  his  answer.  Previous  to 
that,  however,  he  proposed  to  surprise  the  Indians  at 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  J  13 

Wingina's  old  settlement  on  the  island  (Roanoke)  and 
to  take  their  canoes  from  them.  But  they,  too,  were 
on  the  alert,  so  entirely  had  Wingina  prepared  them 
for  emergencies.  "  For  when  I  sent  to  take  the 
cauows,"  says  Mr.  Lane  in  his  Journal,  "  they  met 
one  going  from  the  shore,  overthrew  her,  and  cut 
off  two  Salvages'  heads  ;  wherevpon  the  cry  arose, 
being  by  their  spies  perceived  ;  for  they  kept  as  good 
watch  ouer  vs  as  we  ouer  them."  A  skirmish  ensued, 
tnd  the  Indians  fled  into  the  woods.  The  next 
norning,  the  Governor  crossed  over  to  a  place  on 
die  main  called  Dassarnoripeak,  and  sent  Wingina 
vord  he  was  going  to  Croatan,  and  having  certain 
complaints  to  make  to  him  respecting  his  subjects, 
would  be  happy  to  call  upon  him  by  the  way.  On 
the  faith  of  this  proposal,  the  chieftain,  with  several 
of  his  principal  men,  met  the  Governor's  party  on 
their  route.  But  no  conversation  took  place.  The 
Governor  gave  an  appointed  watchword  to  his  men 
on  approaching,  and  they  fired  upon  the  Indians. 
Wingina  was  shot  through  with  a  pistol-bullet,  and 
fell.  Recovering  his  feet  immediately,  he  fled,  and 
was  near  escaping  his  pursuers,  when  an  Irish  boy 
shot  him  a  second  time.  He  was  soon  overtaken, 
and  then  beheaded  on  the  spot. 

We  do  not  feel  disposed  to  dismiss  these  biogra 
phies  of  the  Carolinian  Sachems,  short  and  slight  as 
they  are,  without  offering  such  comment  as  they 
most  obviously  suggest.  It  appears  singular,  at  first 
sight,  that  so  striking  a  difference  of  feeling  towards 
the  English  should  be  manifested  by  the  two  brothers. 
Perhaps  there  was  fault  on  both  sides.  Master  Heriot 
admits,  that  some  of  the  colony,  "towards  the  latter 
end  showed  themselves  too  furious,  in  slaying  some 
of  the  people  in  some  Townes,  vpon  causes  that  on 
our  part  might  haue  been  borne  with  more  mildnesse." 
We  have  seen  with  how  little  ceremony  the  Governor 
proceeded  to  take  summary  measures.  He  was 
driven  to  extremities,  indeed,  but  that  in  itself  was 
no  fault  of  the  Indians — thev  were  not  under  obliga- 
10—8 


114  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHV. 

tion  to  supply  him,  though  it  appears  that  they  soino 
times  did,  gratuitously. 

Perhaps  a  remark  should  be  made  respecting  a 
provocation  which  occurred  when  the  colony  was 
first  left  by  Grenville.  The  English  went  about 
ranging  the  coast  from  tribe  to  tribe,  and  from  town 
to  town — which  very  circumstance,  besides  being 
probably  accompanied  by  other  trespasses,  and  at  all 
events  wholly  unlicensed  by  the  natives,  could  hardly 
be  looked  upon  as  either  friendly  or  just.  Then,  "  a! 
Aquascosack  the  Indians  stole  a  silver  cup,  wfierefon 
we  burnt  the  toivne,  and  spoyled  their  come,  and  so  re 
turned  to  our  fleet  at  Tocokon."*  This  was  certain 
ly  no  way  to  make  friends,  and  those  who  are  familiar 
with  the  Carolinian  history  subsequent  to  Wingina;s 
death,  will  remember  that  the  injury  was  by  no  meais 
forgotten.  Finally,  setting  aside  the  attempt  to  justify 
either  party,  it  will  be  noticed,  by  such  as  may  take 
the  pains  to  look  into  the  annals  of  this  period,  that 
the  greater  part  of  the  information  which  the  Govern 
or  received  of  the  Sachem's  motives  and  movements 
came  through  the  medium  of  th?.t  shrewd  cripple, 
Menatenon,  and  his  son  Shiko.  wi^tever  the  facta 
might  be,  then,  the  evidence  wa»  ^ea»-lv  inadequate 
if  not  wholly  inadmissible. 


*  Relation  of 


INDIAN     BIOr.UAPHY  115 


CHAPTER  VI.* 

Synopsis  of  the  New  England  Indians  at  the  date  of  the 
Plymouth  Settlement — The  Pokanoket  confederacy — The 
Wampanoag  tribe — Their  first  head-Sachem,  known  to  the 
English — MASSASOIT — The  first  interview  between  him  and 
the  whites — Ills  visit  to  Plymouth,  in  1621 — Treaty  of  peace 
and  friendship — Embassy  sent  to  him  at  Sowams,  by  the  Eng- 
ish — Anecdotes  respecting  it — He  is  suspected  of  treachery 
or  hostility,  in  1622— -His  sickness  in  1623 — A  second  deputa 
tion  visits  him — Ceremonies  and  results  of  the  visit — His  in 
tercourse  with  other  tribes — Conveyances  of  land  to  the  Eng 
lish — His  death  and  character — Anecdotes. 

THE  clearest,  if  not  the  completest  classification 
of  the  New  England  Indians,  at  the  date  of  the  set 
tlement  of  Plymouth,  includes  five  principal  con 
federacies,  each  occupying  their  own  territory,  and 
governed  by  their  own  chiefs.  The  Pequots  inhab 
ited  the  eastern  part  of  Connecticut.  East  of  them 
were  the  Narraghansetts,  within  whose  limits  Rhode 
Island,  and  various  smaller  islands  in  the  vicinity, 
were  comprised.  The  Pawtucket  tribes  were  situat 
ed  chiefly  in  the  southern  section  of  New  Hampshire, 
the  Massachusetts  tribes  around  the  bay  of  their  own 
name  ;  and  between  these  upon  the  north  and  the 
Narraghansetts  upon  the  south,  the  Pokanokets 
claimed  a  tract  of  what  is  now  Bristol  county,  (Rhode 
Island)  bounded  laterally  by  Taunton  and  Pawtuck 
et  rivers  for  some  distance,  together  with  large  parts 
of  Plymouth  and  Barnstable. 

This  confederacy  exercised  some  dominion  over 

*  Not  to  subject  ourselves  to  the  charge  of  plagiarism,  it 
may  be  proper  to  remark  here,  that  several  passages  in  the 
following  notices  of  the  Pokanoket  Sachems  have  been  taken 
almost  unaltered  from  an  article  on  Indian  Biography,  publish 
ed  heretofore  in  the  North  American  Review,  and  written  by 
the  author  of  this  work.  The  same  is  true  of  a  part  of  the 
subsequent  notice  of  Teciitnseh  and  his  brother 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

the  Indians  of  Nanturket  and  Martha's  Vineyard, 
and  over  several  of  the  nearest  Massachusetts  and 
Nipmuck  tribes  ; — the  latter  name  designating  an 
interior  territory,  now  mostly  within  the  boundaries 
of  Worcester  county.  Of  the  Pokanokets,  there 
were  nine  separate  cantons  or  tribes,  each  governed 
by  its  own  petty  sagamore  or  squaw,  but  all  subject 
to  one  grand-sachem,  who  was  also  the  particular 
chief  of  the  Wampanoag  canton,  living  about 
Montaup.* 

The  first  knowledge  we  have  of  the  Wampanoags, 
and  of  the  individuals  who  ruled  over  them  and 
the  other  Pokanokets,  is  furnished  in  the  collections 
of  Purchas,  on  the  authority  of  a  Captain  Derrner 
the  Master  Thomas  Dirmire  spoken  of  by  John 
Smith  in  his  New  England  Trialls,  as  "an  vnderstand- 
ing  and  industrious  gentleman,  who  was  also  with 
him  amongst  the  Frenchmen."  Dermer  was  sent 
out  from  England  in  1619,  by  Sir  F.  Gorges,  on  ac 
count  of  the  President  and  Council  of  New  England, 
in  a  ship  of  two  hundred  tons.  He  had  a  Pokanoket 
Indian  with  him,  named  SQUANTO,  one  of  about 
twenty  who  had  been  kidnapped  on  the  coast  by 
Captain  Hunt,  in  1614,  and  sold  as  slaves  at  Malaga 
for  twenty  pounds  a  man.f  Squanto  and  a  few 
others  of  the  captives  were  either  rescued  or  redeem 
ed,  by  the  benevolent  interposition  of  some  of  the 

*This  celebrated  eminence  (frequently  called,  by  corruptior 
of  the  Indian  name,  Mount-Hope)  is  a  mile  or  two  east  of  the 
village  of  Bristol.  It  is  very  steep  on  all  sides,  and  tei- 
minates  in  a  large  rock,  having  the  appearance  to  a  distant 
spectator,  of  an  immense  dome. 

t  It  is  gratifying  to  learn  from  Smith  that  Hunt  was  pun 
ished,  though  not  according  to  the  baseness  of  his  infamous 
crime.  "  He  betraied  foure  and  twentie  of  these  poore  Sal- 
uages  aboord  his  ship,  and  most  dishonestly  and  inhumanely 
for  their  kinde  usage  of  me  and  all  our  men,  carried  them  with 
him  to  Maligo,  and  there  for  a  little  priuate  gaine  sold  those 
Billy  Saluages  for  Rials  of  eight ;  but  this  vilde  act  kept  him 
ever  after  from  any  more  imploiement  to  these  parts,"- 
Generale  Historic  of  New  England,  published  in  1632 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  117 

monks  upon  that  island.  "  When  1  arrived,"  says 
Dernier  in  his  letter  to  Purchus,  "at  my  savage's 
native  country,  finding  all  dead,  I  travelled  along  a 
day's  journey  to  a  place  called  Nummastaquyt,  where, 
finding  inhabitants,  I  despatched  a  messenger  a  day's 
journey  further  west,  to  Pacanokit,  which  border- 
eth  on  the  sea ;  whence  came  to  see  me  two  kings 
attended  with  a  guard  of  fifty  armed  men,  who  being 
well  satisfied  with  that  my  savage  and  I  disco u reed 
unto  them,  (being  desirous  of  novelty)  gave  me  con 
tent  in  whatsoever  I  demanded.  Here  I  redeemed 
a  Frenchman,  and  afterwards  another  at  Massta- 
chusitt,  who  three  years  since  escaped  shipwreck  at 
the  northeast  of  Cape  Cod."  One  of  these  two  kings, 
— as  the  sachems  were  frequently  entitled  by  the 
early  writers, — must  have  been  MASSASOIT,  so  well 
known  afterwards  to  the  Plymouth  settlers ;  and 
probably  the  second  was  his  brother  Quadepinah. 
The  "native  country"  of  Squanto  was  the  vicinity 
of  Plymouth,  where  the  Indians  are  understood  to 
have  been  kidnapped.  Thousands  of  them,  there, 
as  well  as  elsewhere  along  the  whole  coast  of  New 
England,  had  been  swept  off*  by  a  terrible  pestilence. 
The  first  appearance  of  Massasoit,*  after  the  set 
tlement  of  Plymouth,  was  upon  the  22d  of  March, 
](>2],  a  week  previous  to  which  some  information 
concerning  hitn  had  been  gathered  from  an  Indian 
named  Samoset,  who  entered  the  village  with  great 
boldness,  and  greeted  the  inhabitants  with  a  "wel 
come."  On  the  second  occasion,  he  carne  in  with 
four  others, — having  engaged  to  introduce  some  of 
(he  Wampanoags,  to  traffic  in  furs, — among  whom 
was  Squanto,  at  that  time  probably  the  sole  remain- 

*  We  have  given  the  most  simple  orthography  of  this  word. 
It  is  frequently  written  Massasoyt,  Massasoiet,  Massasowat, 
&c.  Mr.  Belknap  says,  (American  Biography,)  that  contem 
porary  pronunciation  made  it  a  word  of  four  syllables,  with 
the  accent  on  the  second, — Mas-sass-o-it.  The  sachem  sub 
sequently  assumed  another  name,  which  has  undergone  still 
more  various  modifications, — Oosame<iuin,  Woosamequil  ,  and 
Ausanieuuin,  are  some  of  them. 


118  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

ing  native  of  Plymouth.  This  party  brought  a  few 
fish  and  skins  to  sell,  and  informed  the  English  that 
the  great  sachem,  with  his  brother  and  his  whole 
force,  were  near  at  hand.  Massasoit  soon  appeared 
upon  the  neighboring  hill,  with  sixty  men.  As  they 
seemed  unwilling  to  approach  nearer,  Squanto  was 
despatched  to  ascertain  their  designs  ;  and  they  gave 
him  to  understand,  that  they  wished  some  one 
should  be  sent  to  hold  a  parley. 

Edward  Winslow  was  appointed  to  this  office, 
and  he  immediately  carried  presents  to  the  sachem, 
which  were  willingly  accepted.  He  addressed  him 
also  in  a  speech  of  some  length,  which  the  Indians 
listened  to  with  the  decorous  gravity  characteristic 
of  the  race,  ill-explained  as  it  was  by  the  interpreter. 
The  purport  of  the  speech  was,  that  King  James 
saluted  the  sachem,  his  brother,  with  the  words  of 
peace  and  love ;  that  he  accepted  him  as  his  friend 
and  ally ;  and  that  the  Governor  desired  to  see  him, 
and  to  trade  and  treat  with  him  upon  friendly  terms. 
Massasoit  appears  to  have  made  no  special  reply  to 
this  harangue,  for  the  sufficient  reason,  probably, 
that  he  did  not  precisely  comprehend  the  drift  of 
it.  He  paid  more  attention  to  the  sword  and  armor 
of  Winslow  while  he  spoke ;  and  when  he  had  ceas 
ed  speaking,  signified  his  disposition  to  commence 
the  proposed  trade  forthwith  by  buying  them.  They 
were  not,  however,  for  sale  ;  find  so,  leaving  Wins- 
low  in  the  custody  of  his  brother,  he  crossed  a  brook 
between  him  arid  the  English,  taking  with  him 
twenty  of  the  Wampanoags,  who  were  directed  to 
leave  their  bows  and  arrows  behind  them.  Beyond 
the  brook  he  was  met  by  Captain  Standish  and 
another  gentleman,  with  an  escort  of  six  armed  men, 
who  exchanged  salutations  with  him,  and  attended 
him  to  one  of  the  best  houses  in  the  village.*  Here, 

*  A  stone  arch  has  in  modern  times  been  thrown  over  this 
orook,  to  point  out  the  precise  spot  of  the  meeting.  The  hill 
where  the  chieftain  first  appeared  was  by  the  settlers  of  his 
time  called  "  Strawberry-Hill." 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  119 

a  green  rug  was  spread  upon  the  floor,  and  three  or 
four  cushions  piJed  on  it  for  his  accommodation. 
The  Governor  then  entered  the  house,  followed  by 
several  soldiers,  and  preceded  by  a  flourish  of  a 
drum  and  trumpet, — a  measure  probably  recom 
mended  by  Standish,  and  which  answered  the  pur 
pose  of  delighting  and  astounding  the  Wampanoags, 
even  beyond  expectation.  It  was  a  deference  paid 
to  their  sovereign,  which  pleased  as  well  as  surprised 
them.  The  sachem  and  the  Governor  now  kissed 
each  other,  and  after  the  interchange  of  certain  other 
civilities,  sat  down  together,  and  regaled  themselves 
with  what  Neal  calls  an  entertainment.  It  consisted, 
it  seems,  chiefly  of  "strong  waters,  a  thing  the 
savages  love  very  well ;  and  the  sachem  took  such  a 
large  draught  of  it  at  once,  as  made  him  sweat  all 
the  while  he  staid."  A  treaty  was  concluded  upon 
this  occasion,  the  terms  of  which  were  as  follows; 

1.  That  neither  he,  nor  any  of  his  (Massasoit's* 
should  injure  or  do  hurt  to  any  of  their  people. 

2.  That  if  any  of  his  did  any  hurt  to  any  of  theirs, 
he  should  send  the  offender,  that  they  might  punish 
him. 

3.  That  if  any  thing  were  taken  away  from  any 
of  theirs,  he  should  cause  it  to  be  restored,  and  they 
should  do  the  like  to  his. 

4.  That  if  any  did  unjustly  war  against  him,  they 
would  aid  him  ;  and  if  any  did  war  against  them,  he 
should  aid  them. 

5.  That  he  should  send  to  his  neighbor  confed 
erates,  to  inform  them  of  this,  that  they  might  not 
wrong   them,   but  might  be  likewise  comprised  in 
these  conditions  of  peace. 

6.  That  when  his  came  to  them  upon  any  occa 
sion,  they  should  leave  their  arms  behind  them. 

7.  That   so   doing,  their   Sovereign    Lord,  King 
James,  would  esteem  him  as  his  friend  and  ally. 

"  All  which,"  says  Morton, — and  some  other  annal 
ists  agree  with  him, — "  he  liked  very  wt  11,  and  withal, 
at  the  same  time,  acknowledged  himself  content  to 


120  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

become  the  subject  of  our  Sovereign  Lord  the  King 
aforesaid,  his  heirs  and  successors  ;  and  gave  unto 
him  all  the  lands  adjacent,  to  him  and  his  heirs  for 
ever."  This  acknowledgement  of  the  sovereignty 
of  the  King,  if  it  really  made  a  part  of  the  agreement, 
certainly  deserved  a  place  as  a  distinct  article  ;  being 
by  far  more  important  than  all  the  others.  The 
grant  of  land, — and  this  grant  constituted  the  entire 
title  of  the  Plymouth  settlers,  as  against  the  natives, — 
is  confirmed  by  subsequent  transactions,  and  espe 
cially  by  the  acts  of  Massasoit.  But  his  submission 
to  the  authority  of  King  James,  as  a  subject  to  a 
sovereign,  is  more  doubtful ;  nor  does  it  by  any  means 
accord  with  the  seventh  express  article.  That  the 
treaty  itself  also  was  not  preserved  precisely  as  it 
was  probably  understood,  may  be  inferred  from  the 
variations  of  it  given  by  Mourt  in  his  Relation.  Ac 
cording  to  his  sixth  article,  for  example,  a  just  recip 
rocity  is  maintained,  by  providing  that  the  English 
should  leave  their  pieces  behind  them  in  their  inter 
views  with  the  Indians.  This  distinction  between 
alliance  and  subjection, — at  least  in  the  mind  of  one 
of  the  parties, — seems  to  have  been  too  much  over 
looked. 

Such,  however,  was  the  first  treaty  made  with  the 
Indians  of  New  England, — a  passage  in  its  history 
of  great  interest.  It  was  made  upon  peaceable  and 
honorable  terms.  The  Indians  came  in  voluntarily 
to  make  it ;  and  though  they  received  as  a  considera 
tion  for  the  immense  territory  granted  at  the  time, 
only  a  pair  of  knives,  and  a  copper  chain  with  a 
jewel  in  it  for  the  grand  sachem  ;  and  a  knife,  a 
jewel  to  hang  in  his  ear,  a  pot  of  strong  water,  a 
good  quantity  of  biscuit,  and  some  butter  for  Quade- 
pinah,* — yet  were  all  parties  satisfied  with  the  sub 
stance  as  they  were  gratified  by  the  ceremonies  of 

*So  minutely  is  the  transaction  described  in  The  Journal 
of  a  Plantation  at  Plymouth,  preserved  by  Purchas,  and 
re-published  among  the  Historical  Collections  of  Massachusetts 
There  is  reason  to  think  that  Winslow  \vas  the  author 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  J21 

the  agreement.  It  is  pleasing  to  learn  from  history, 
that  this  simple  negotiation  was  remembered  and 
adhered  to  on  both  sides  for  the  unparalleled  term 
of  half  a  century  ;  nor  was  Massasoit,  or  any  of  the 
Wampanoags  during  his  lifetime,  convicted  by  the 
harshest  revilers  of  his  race,  of  having  violated,  or 
attempted  to  violate,  any  of  its  plain,  just,  and  delib 
erate  provisions. 

The  two  parties  seem  to  have  regarded  each  other 
Dii  this  occasion  with  a  curiosity  of  equal  interest 
and  minuteness ;  for  while  the  sachem  was  inspect 
ing  the  armor  of  Winslow,  and  his  Warnpanoags 
exerting  themselves  to  blow  the  trumpet  in  imitation 
of  their  hosts,*  the  English  by-standers,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  making  their  own  observations.  The 
writer  of  the  Journal  of  a  Plantation  settled  at 
Plymouth,  describes  Massasoit  as  "  a  veiy  lusty  man, 
in  his  best  years,  an  able  body,  grave  of  countenance, 
and  spare  of  speech."  In  his  attire,  he  is  said  to 
have  differed  little  from  the  rest  of  his  followers,  ex 
cepting  that  he  wore  a  large  chain  of  white  bone- 
beads  about  his  neck,  which  was,  probably,  one  of 
the  royal  insignia  ;  and  that  he  had  suspended  from 
it  behind,  a  little  bag  of  tobacco,  which  he  drank, 
says  the  writer,  "  and  gave  us  to  drink."  His  appear 
ance  otherwise  does  not  seem  to  have  been  particu 
larly  elegant ;  his  face  being  painted  of  a  sad  red, 
like  murrey,  and  both  head  and  face  so  oiled  that 
he  "  looked  greasily."  His  only  weapon  was  a  long 
knife,  swinging  at  his  bosom  by  a  string.  His  atten 
dants  were  probably  arrayed  for  this  great  occasion 
with  peculiar  attention  to  etiquette ;  some  of  them 
being  painted  black,  others  red,  yellow,  or  white; 
some  wearing  crosses  and  "other  antick  works;'' 
and  several  of  them  dressed  in  furs  or  skins  of  various 
descriptions.  Being  tall,  strong  men  also,  and  the 
first  natives  whom  most  of  the  Colonists  had  ever 


*  "  He  marvelled  much  at  our  trumpet,  and  some  of  his  men 
jvould  sound  it  a?  well  as  we  could." — Journal. 

L— K 


122  INDIA*     BIOGRAPHY 

seen  near  at'hand,  they  must  have  made  to  them  a 
somewhat  imposing,  as  well  as  interesting  spectacle. 
Leaving  a  few  of  their  number  among  the  whites, 
as  hostages,  the  Wampanoags  retired  to  the  woods 
about  half  a  mile  distant  and  spent  the  night ;  and 
Winslow  acted  as  their  hostage.  The  English  were 
not  yet  prepared,  it  would  seem,  to  put  faith  in  the 
professions  of  savages ;  for  they  kept  strict  watch 
all  night,  besides  retaining  the  security  just  named. 
Their  guests,  on  the  contrary,  enjoyed  themselves 
quietly  in  the  woods  ;  and  there  were  some  of  their 
wives  and  children  with  them,  who  must  have  come 
upon  this  courteous  visit  from  a  distance  of  forty 
miles.  The  sachem  sent  several  of  his  people  the 
next  morning,  to  signify  his  wish  that  some  of  his  new 
friends  would  honor  him  with  their  presence.  Stan- 
dish  and  one  Alderton*  "  went  venturously  "  among 
them,  and  were  cordially,  if  not  i-oyally  welcomed 
with  an  entertainment  of  tobacco  and  ground-nuts. 
"  We  cannot  yet  conceive,"  continues  our  still  un 
satisfied  informant,  "  but  that  he  is  willing  to  have 
peace  with  us  ;  for  they  have  seen  our  people  some 
times  alone  two  or  three  in  the  woods  at  work  and 
fowling,  when  they  offered  them  no  harm,  as  they 
might  easily  have  done."  They  remained  at  their 
encampment  till  late  in  the  forenoon  ;  the  Governor 
requiting  the  sachem's  liberality,  meanwhile,  by  send 
ing  an  express  messenger  for  his  large  kettle,  and 
filling  it  with  dry  peas.  "  This  pleased  them  well ; 
and  so  they  went  their  way  ;" — the  one  party  as 
much  relieved,  no  doubt,  as  the  other  was  gratified.! 

*  From  whom  die  outer  point  of  Boston  harbor  is  said  to 
have  been  named. 

fSuch  was  the  earliest  visit,  of  ceremony  or  business  at 
least,  which  the  natives  of  New  England  paid  to  the  Colonists. 
The  account  given  of  it,  though  ex  parte,  as  all  such  descrip 
tions  must  be,  is  honorable  to  the  former  in  the  highest  degree. 
They  show  that  many,  if  not  most  of  the  savages,  who  were 
fairly  dealt  with,  were  at  first  as  sensible  and  as  prone  to 
kindness  as  could  have  been  wished.  They  went  unarmec 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  123 

We  meet  with  Massasoit  again  in  July  1621  ;  an 
embassy  being  then  sent  to  him  at  his  own  residence, 
Montaup  or  So  warns.  This  embassy  consisted  of 
Edward  Winslow  and  Stephen  Hopkins ;  and  the 
objects  of  it  were,  says  Mourt,*  u  tliat  forasmuch  as 
his  subjects  came  often  and  without  fear  upon  all  occa- 
giom  amongst  us"  so  the  English  went  now  to  visit 
him,  carrying  with  them  a  coat  from  the  Governor 
to  his  friend  the  sachem,  as  a  token  of  good  will, 
and  desire  to  live  peaceably.  It  was  farther  intima 
ted,  though  with  great  delicacy,  that  whereas  his 
people  came  frequently  and  in  great  numbers  to 
Plymouth,  wives,  children,  and  all,  and  were  always 
welcome, — yet  being  but  strangers  in  the  land,  and 
not  confident  how  their  corn  might  prosper,  they 
could  no  longer  give  them  such  entertainment  as  they 
had  done,  and  still  wished  to  do.  If  Massasoit  him 
self,  however,  would  visit  them,  or  any  special  friend 
of  his,  he  should  be  welcome.  A  request  was  then 
made,  that  the  Pokanokets,  who  had  furs,  should  be 
permitted  to  dispose  of  them  to  the  Colonists.  The 
Governor  wished  him  also  to  exchange  some  corn 
for  seed  with  the  Plymouth  people. 

The  remaining  article  in  this  message  is  more 
illustrative  of  the  relations  understood  to  exist  and 
to  be  desirable  between  the  parties.  On  the  first 
arrival  of  the  Colonists  at  Cape  Cod,  it  seems  they 
had  found  corn  buried  there  in  the  ground.  Seeing 
no  inhabitants  in  the  neighborhood,  "  but  some  graves 
of  the  dead  newly  buried,"  they  took  the  corn,  with 
the  intention  of  making  full  satisfaction  for  it  when 
ever  it  became  practicable.  The  owners  of  it  were 

among  the  settler**  without  fear,  disposed  to  be  honest  and 
friendly  at  all  events,  and  as  hospitable  as  their  means  per 
mitted.  It  will  appear  in  the  sequel,  that  they  continued  so 
for  a  long  course  of  years,  as  they  also  continued  faithful  to 
their  express  obligations. 

*  See  MOURT'S  RELATION,  part  of  which  is  also  preserved 
in  the  COLLECTIONS.  The  name  of  the  publisher  only  eeema 
t»  be  attached  to  it. 


124  INDlir?    BIOGRAPHY 

supposed  to  have  fled  through  fear.  It  was  now  pro 
posed,  that  these  men  should  be  informed  by  Massas- 
oit, — if  they  could  be  found, — that  the  English  were 
ready  to  pay  them  with  an  equal  quantity  of  corn. 
English  meal,  or  "any  other  commodities  they  had 
to  pleasure  them  withal ;"  and  full  sati-sfaction  was 
offered  for  any  trouble  which  the  sachem  might  do 
them  the  favor  to  take.  This  proposal  was  equally 
politic  and  just. 

The  visitors  met  with  a  generous,  though  humble 
hospitality,  which  reminds  one  of  the  first  reception 
of  Columbus  by  the  West-Indian  islanders.  They 
reached  Namaschet  about  three  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon  ;  and  there,  we  are  told,  the  inhabitants  enter 
tained  them  with  joy,  in  the  best  manner  they  were 
able  ;  giving  them  sweet  bread*  and  fish,  with  a  less 
acceptable  accompaniment  of  boiled  musty  acorns. 
Various  civilities  were  exchanged  after  this  primitive 
and  savory  repast, — as  ancient,  by  the  way,  as  the 
early  Greeks, — and  some  time  was  passed  very  pleas 
antly  in  shooting  a  crow  at  a  considerable  distance, 
to  the  vast  astonishment  and  amusement  of  the 
Indians.  They  were  then  directed  to  a  place  about 
eight  miles  distant,  (Middleborough)  where,  says  the 
Journalist,  they  should  find  "more  store  and  better 
victuals."  They  were  welcomed,  on  their  arrival, 
by  a  party  who  were  catching  great  numbers  of  fine 
bass  in  Taunton  river,  and  who  gave  them  a  supper 
and  a  breakfast  in  the  morning,  besides  the  privilege 
of  lodging  in  the  woods  near  by  over  night. 

Attended  by  six  of  their  hosts  the  next  day,  they 
were  assisted  in  passing  the  river;  and  here  they 
met  with  the  first  indications  ol  ill- will,  in  the  per 
sons  of  two  old  Indians  upon  the  opposite  bank. 
These  two,  espying  them  as  they  entered  the  river, 
ran  swiftly  and  stealthily  among  the  high  grass  to 

*  (/ailed  mazium,  and  made  of  Indian  corn,  no  doubt. 
Gookin  says,  that  a  meal  which  they  made  of  parched  maize 
was  so  sweet,  so  hearty,  and  so  toothsome,  that  an  Indian 
would  travel  many  days  with  no  other  foot* 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  125 

meet  them  ;  and  then,  with  loud  voices  and  drawn 
bows,  demanded  of  the  strangers  who  they  were  ; 
"but  seeing  we  were  friends,"  it  is  added,  "they 
welcomed  us  with  such  food  as  they  had,  and  we 
bestowed  a  small  bracelet  of  beads  on  them."  The 
remarks  which  follow  this,  upon  the  conduct  of  the 
six  attendants,  we  cannot  forbear  citing  at  large, 
irrelevant  to  our  main  purpose  as  they  are.  "  When 
we  came  to  a  small  brook,"  says  our  accurate  writer, 
"where  no  bridge  was,  two  of  them  desired  to  carry 
us  through  of  their  own  accords ;  also  fearing  we 
were,  or  would  be  weary,  offered  to  carry  our  pieces  ; 
also  if  we  would  lay  off  any  of  our  clothes,  [it  being 
excessively  hot,]  we  should  have  them  carried  ;  arid 
as  the  one  of  them  had  found  more  special  kindness 
from  one  of  the  messengers,  and  the  other  savage 
from  the  other,  so  they  showed  their  thankfulness 
accordingly,  in  affording  us  help  and  furtherance  in 
the  journey." 

After  one  more  entertainment  on  the  way,  out 
travellers  reached  Sowams.  Massasoit  was  not  at 
home,  but  arrived  soon  after,  and  was  saluted  by  bis 
visiters  with  a  discharge  of  musketry.  He  welcomed 
them  kindly  after  the  Indian  manner,  took  them  into 
his  lodge,  and  seated  them  by  himself.  They  then 
delivered  their  message  and  presents,  the  latter  com 
prising  a  horseman's  coat  of  red  cotton,  embroidered 
with  fine  lace.  The  sachem  mounted  this  superb 
article  without  delay,  and  hung  the  chain,  which 
they  also  gave  him,  about  his  neck,  evidently  enjoy 
ing  the  unspeakable  admiration  of  the  Wampanoags, 
who  gazed  upon  him  at  a  distance.  He  now  answer 
ed  the  message,  clause  after  clause  ;  and  particularly 
signified  his  desire  to  continue  in  peace  and  friend 
ship  with  his  neighbors.  He  gathered  his  men 
around  him  in  fin^,  and  harangued  them ;  they  oc 
casionally  confirming  what  he  said  by  their  custom 
ary  ejaculations.  Was  not  he,  Massasoit,  command 
er  of  the  country  about  them  ?  Was  not  such  a 
town  within  his  lominion« — and  were  not  the  peo- 


126  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

pie  of  it  his  subjects — and  should  they  not  bring 
their  skins  to  him,  if  he  wished  it  ? 

Thus  he  proceeded  to  name  about  thirty  of  his 
small  settlements,  his  attentive  auditors  responding 
to  each  question.  The  matter  being  regularly  set 
tled,  he  lighted  tobacco  for  his  guests,  and  conversed 
with  them  about  their  own  country  and  King,  mar 
velling,  above  all,  that  his  Majesty  should  live  with 
out  a  squaw.  As  it  grew  late,  and  he  offered  no 
more  substantial  entertainment  than  this, — no  doubt 
for  the  sound  reason,  that  he  had  nothing  to  offer, 
— his  guests  intimated  a  wish  to  retire  for  the  night. 
He  forthwith  accommodated  them,  with  himself  and 
his  wife,  they  at  one  end  and  his  visiters  at  the  other, 
of  a  bed  consisting  of  a  plank  platform,  raised  a  foot 
or  two  from  the  ground  and  covered  with  a  thin 
mat.  Two  of  his  chief  men,  probably  by  way  of 
compliment,  were  also  stationed  upon  the  same 
premises ;  and  this  body-guard  performed  their 
pressing  duty  of  escort  so  effectually,  that  no  other 
circumstances  were  necessary  to  make  the  honored 
guests  "  worse  weary  of  their  lodging  than  they  had 
been  of  their  journey." 

On  the  following  day,  many  of  the  petty  chiefs, 
with  their  subjects,  came  in  from  the  adjacent  coun 
try,  and  various  sports  and  games  were  got  up  for 
the  entertainment  of  the  English.  At  noon,  they 
partook,  with  the  sachem  and  about  forty  others, 
of  a  meal  of  boiled  fish  shot  by  himself,  (probably 
with  arrows.)  They  continued  with  him  until  the 
next  morning,  when  they  departed,  leaving  Massasoit 
"both  grieved  and  ashamed"  that  he  could  not  bet 
ter  entertain  him.  Very  importunate  he  was,  adds 
the  journalist,  to  have  them  stay  with  him  longei  ; 
but  as  they  had  eaten  but  one  meal  for  two  days 
and  a  night,  with  the  exception  of  a  partridge,  which 
one  of  them  killed;  and  what  with  their  location  at 
night,  the  "savages'  barbarous  singing  of  themselves 
to  sleep,"  musquitoes  without  doors,  and  other  tri 
fling  inconveniences  within,  could  not  sleep  at  all  r 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  127 

they  begged  to  be  excused, — on  the  score  of  con 
science,  Sunday  being  near  at  hand, — not  to  mention 
that  they  were  growing  light-headed,  and  could 
hardly  expect,  if  they  stayed  much  longer,  to  be 
able  to  reach  home. 

Massasoit's  friendship  was  again  tested  in  March, 
1622,  when  an  Indian,  known  to  be  under  Squanto'a 
influence,*  came  running  in  among  a  party  of  colo 
nists,  with  his  face  gashed,  and  the  blood  fresh  upon 
it,  calling  out  to  them  to  flee  for  their  lives,  and  then 
looking  behind  him  as  if  pursued.  On  coming  up, 
he  told  them  that  the  Indians,  under  Massasoit,  were 
congregating  at  a  certain  place  for  an  attack  upon 
the  Colony ;  that  he  had  received  his  wounds  in 
consequence  of  opposing  their  designs ;  and  had 
barely  escaped  from  them  with  his  life.  The  report 
occasioned  no  little  alarm  ;  although  the  correctness 
of  it  was  flatly  denied  by  Hobamock,  a  Pokanoket 
Indian  resident  at  Plymouth,  who  recommended 
that  a  messenger  should  be  sent  secretly  to  Sowarns, 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  truth.  This  was 
done,  and  the  messenger,  finding  every  thing  in  its 
usually  quiet  state,  informed  Massasoit  of  the  reports 
circulated  against  him.  He  was  excessively  incens 

*  Which,  it  may  be  here  observed,  was  quite  considerable. 
Squanto  was  ambitious  and  meddlesome,  though  not  malicious 
— well-disposed  and  serviceable  to  the  English,  but  a  little  too 
anxious  to  have  credit  for  that  fact  among  his  countrymen. 
He  amused  himself  with  telling  them  that  the  whites  kept  the 
plague  barrelled  up  in  their  cellars,  that  they  intended  war 
upon  various  tribes,  &c.  for  the  sake  of  being  employed, 
sometimes  hired,  to  act  as  mediator;  and  of  course  he  always 
succeeded  in  settling  the  difficulty.  Squanto  died  in  Novem 
ber,  1622,  on  an  expedition  fitted  out  by  Governor  Bradford 
for  obtaining  corn  among  the  Indians.  His  last  request  was, 
that  the  governor  would  pray  for  him  Unit  he  might  go  to  the 
Englishman's  God  in  Heaven.  He  bequeathed  his  little  prop 
erty  to  his  English  friends.  So  perished  the  last  aboriginal 
of  the  Plymouth  soil.  He  sometimes  played  'Jack  upon  both 
sides,'  as  Hubbard  says,  but  his  death  was  justly  considered  a 
public  loss. 


128  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

ed  against  Squanto,  but  sent  his  thanks  to  the  Gov 
ernor  for  the  opinion  of  his  fidelity,  which  he  un 
derstood  him  to  retain  ;  and  directed  the  messenger 
to  assure  him,  that  he  should  instantly  apprize  him 
of  any  conspiracy  which  might  at  any  future  time 
take  place. 

That  the  declarations  of  Massasoit,  upon  this  occa 
sion,  were  far  from  being  mere  words  of  compulsion 
or  of  courtesy,  is  abundantly  proved  by  his  conduct 
during  the  next  season,  1623.  Early  in  the  spring  of 
that  year,  news  came  to  Plymouth,  that  he  was  very 
sick  at  Sowams ;  and  it  was  determined  to  send  Mr. 
Winslow  to  visit  him  once  more,  in  token  of  the 
friendship  of  the  colonists.  That  gentleman  immedi 
ately  commenced  his  journey,  being  provided  with 
a  few  cordials,  and  attended  by  "  one  Master  John 
Hampden,  a  London  gentleman,  who  then  wintered 
with  him,  and  desired  much  to  see  the  country," — 
no  doubt  the  same  character  so  eminently  distinguish 
ed  afterwards  in  the  politics  of  England. 

They  heard,  at  various  places  on  their  route,  that 
the  sachem  was  already  dead ;  and  their  guide, 
Hobamock,  indulged  himself  all  the  way  in  the  most 
unbounded  grief.  They  found  him  still  living,  how 
ever,  on  their  arrival ;  and  the  multitude  of  depend 
ents  and  friends  who  thronged  his  lodge,  made  way 
as  fast  as  possible  for  their  admittance  and  accom 
modation.  He  appeared  to  be  reduced  to  the  last 
extremities.  Six  or  eight  women  were  ernploved 
in  chafing  his  cold  limbs,  and  the  residue  of  "the 
numerous  company  were  exerting  themselves  to  the 
utmost,  meanwhile,  in  making  what  Winslow  rather 
uncharitably  calls  "  such  a  hellish  noise  as  distem 
pered  those  that  were  well."*  He  had  the  good  sense 

*  Probably  an  Indian  Powah  was  leader  of  the  chorus. 
Of  these  barbarian  quacks,  Roger  Williams  says,  that  "  the 
poore  people  commonly  dye  under  their  hands,"  for  the  very 
good  reason  that  they  "  administer  nothing,  but  howle,  and 
roar,  and  hollow  over  them,  and  begin  the  song  to  the  rest  of 
the  people  about  them,  who  all  joyne  (like  a  quire)  in  praver  to 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  19 

to  wait  for  the  conclusion  of  the  ceremony  ;  and  the 
exhausted  performers  being  then  satisfied  they  nad 
done  all  that  in  them  lay  for  the  benefit  of  the 
patient,  one  of  them  apprised  him  of  the  arrival  of  the 
English. 

"  Who  have  come  ?"  muttered  the  sachem,  still 
conscious,  though  his  sight  was  wholly  gone.  They 
told  him  Winsnow  had  come,  (as  they  generally  sub 
stituted  n  for  the  English  /.)  "Let  me  speak  with 
him  then,"  he  replied,  "  Let  me  speak  one  word  to 
nim."  Winslow  went  forward  to  the  matted  plat 
form  where  he  lay,  and  grasped  the  feeble  hand 
which  the  sachem,  informed  of  his  approach,  held 
out  for  him.  "  Art  thou  Winsnow  ?"  he  whispered 
the  question  again,  (in  his  own  language,)  "  Art  thou 
Winsnow  ?"  Being  readily  answered  in  the  affirma 
tive,  he  appeared  satisfied  of  the  fact.  But  "O  Wins 
now,"  he  added  mournfully,  "  I  shall  never  see  thee 
again  !" 

Hobamock  was  now  called,  and  desired  to  assure 
the  sachem  of  the  Governor's  kind  remembrance  of 
him  in  his  present  situation,  and  to  inform  him  of  the 
articles  they  had  brought  with  them  for  his  use.  He 
immediately  signified  his  wish  to  taste  of  these ;  and 
they  were  given  him  accordingly,  to  the  great  delight 
of  the  people  around  him.  Winslow  then  proceeded 
to  use  measures  for  his  relief,  and  they  wrought  a 
great  change  in  him  within  half  an  hour.  He  re- 
povered  his  sight  gradually,  and  began  to  converse, 
requesting  his  good  friend  Winslow,  among  other 
things,  to  kill  him  a  fowl,  and  make  him  some  English 
pottage,  such  as  he  had  seen  at  Plymouth.  This  was 
done  for  him,  and  such  other  care  taken  as  restored 
his  strength  and  appetite  wonderfully  within  the  day 
or  two  of  Winslow's  stay. 

His  expressions  of  gratitude,  as  well  as  those  of  his 
delighted  attendants,  were  constant,  as  they  were 


the  gods  for  them."     Key  to  the  Indian  Language,  chapter 
xxxi. 

10—9 


130  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

•  u»tentl\  warm  from  the  heart.  Final!}',  as  his 
£,ue  rts  were  about  to  leave  him,  he  culled  Hobamock 
tv>  Us  side,  and  revealed  to  him  a  plot  against  the 
cole  Mists,  recently  formed,  as  he  understood,  among 
certain  of  the  Massachusetts  tribes,  rnd  in  which  he 
hid  uirnself  been  invited  to  join.  He  also  recom 
irenfk^d  certain  summary  measures  for  the  suppres 
sion  of  the  plot,  and  concluded  with  charging  Hoba 
mock*'  to  communicate  the  intelligence  to  Window 
oil  the  way  to  Plymouth.  It  may  be  added  here, 
that  tin  se  measures  were  subsequently  executed  by 
Standi:  n,and  were  successful.  The  conspiracy  itself 
war*  oc  casioried  by  the  notorious  and  outrageous 
profligacy  of  the  'banditti  of  "Master  Weston,"  at 
We  vmouth. 

1  he  leading  particulars  in  the  residue  of  Massa- 
e?oit  s  life,  may  soon  be  detailed.  In  1632,  he  was 
assaulted  at  Sowams,  by  a  party  of  Narraghansetts, 
and  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  an  English  house.  His 
sitmaion  was  soon  ascertained  at  Plymouth,  and  an 
armed  force  being  promptly  despatched  to  his  suc 
cor,  t'nder  his  old  friend  Standish,  the  Narraghan 
setts  retired.  About  the  year  1639,  he  probably 
associated  his  eldest  son,Moanam  or  Wamsutta,  with 
him  m  the  government ;  for  they  came  together  into 
open  court  at  Plymouth,  it  is  said,  on  the  28th  of 
September  of  that  year,  and  desired  that  the  ancient 
treaty  tf  1621  might  remain  inviolable.  They  also 
entered  into  some  new  engagements,  chiefly  going  to 
secure  10  the  Colony  a  pre-emptive  claim  to  the 
Pokanot  3t  lands.  "  And  the  whole  court,"  add  the 
records,  'in  the  name  of  the  whole  government  for 
each  town  respectively,  did  then  likewise  ratify  and 
confirm  the  aforesaid  ancient  league  and  confede 
racy." 

*  The  date  of  this  Indian's  death  is  not  known.  He  is  said 
to  have  once  been  a  war-captain  among  the  Massachusetts 
tribes.  Hubbard  describes  him  as  a  *  proper  lusty  young  man, 
and  of  good  account  among  the  Indians  of  those  parts  for  his  val 
or.'  He  was  iise'al,  like  Squanto,  without  being  troublesonci- 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  131 

From  tliis  time,  the  names  of  the  father  and  son 
are  sometimes  found  united,  and  sometimes  not  so, 
in  instruments  by  which  land  was  conveyed  to  the 
English.  In  1649,  the  former  sold  the  territory  of 
Bridgewater  in  his  own  name.  "  Witnes  these  pres 
ents" — are  the  words  of  the  deed — "  that  I  Ousame- 
fjuin  Sachim  of  the  contrie  of  Pocanauket,  haue 
given,  granted  enfeofed  and  sould  unto  Myles  Stand- 
ish  of  Duxborough  Samuel  Nash  and  Constant 
Southworth  of  Duxborough  aforesaid  in  the  behalfe 
of  all  ye  townsmen  of  Duxborough  aforesaid  a  tract 
of  land  usually  called  Saughtueket  extending  in  length 
arid  the  breadth  thereof,  as  followeth,  that  is  to  say — 
[here  follow  the  boundaries  of  what  is  now  Bridge- 
water] — the  wch  tract  the  said  Ousarnequin  hath 
given  granted  enfeofed  and  sould  unto  ye  said  Myles 
[Standish]  Samuel  Nash  and  Constant  South  worth 
in  the  behalfe  of  all  ye  townsmen  of  Duxborough  as 
aforesaid  w1'1  all  the  emunitics  priveleges  and  profitts 
whatsoever  belonging  to  the  said  tract  of  land  wth 
all  and  singular  all  woods  underwoods  lands  mead- 
owes  Riuers  brooks  Rivulets  &c.  to  have  and  to 
hould  to  the  said  Myles  Standish  Samuel  Nash  and 
Constant  South  worth  in  behalfe  of  all  the  townsmen 
of  the  towne  of  Duxborough  to  them  and  their  heyers 
forever.  In  witnes  whereof  I  the  said  Ousarnequin 
have  here  unto  sett  my  hand  this  28  of  March  1649 
The  mk  of  <$  Ousamequin. 

In  consideration  of  the  aforesaid  bargain  and  sale 
wee  the  said  Myles  Standish  Samuel  Nash  and  Con 
stant  Southworth,  doe  bind  ourselves  to  pay  unto  y" 
said  Ousamequin  for  and  in  consideration  of  ye  said 
tract  of  land  as  followeth 

7  Coats  a  yd  and  half  in  ^ 

a  coat  |  Myles  Standish 

9    Hatchets 

8  Howes  >   Samuel  Nash 
20    Knives 

4    Moose  skins  |  Constant  Southworth." 

1 0    Yds  and  half  of  cotton  j 


132  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

The  original  document  of  which  we  have  here 
given  a  literal  and  exact  copy  has  been  preserved  tc 
this  day.  It  is  in  the  handwriting  of  Captain 
Standish. 

The  precise  date  of  Massasoit's  death  is  unknown. 
In  1653,  his  name  appears  in  a  deed  by  which  he 
conveyed  part  of  the  territory  of  Swansey  to  Eng 
lish  grantees.  Hubbard  supposes  that  he  died  about 
three  years  subsequent  to  this ;  but  as  late  as  1661, 
he  is  noticed  in  the  Records  of  the  United  Colonies, 
as  will  appear  more  particularly  in  the  life  of  his 
eldest  son.  Two  or  three  years  afterwards,  convey 
ances  were  made  of  the  Pokanoket  lands  in  which 
he  appears  to  have  had  no  voice  ;  and  it  may  be  fairly 
inferred  that  he  died  in  that  interval.  He  must  have 
been  near  eighty  years  of  age. 

Such  are  the  passages  which  history  has  preserved 
concerning  the  earliest  and  best  friend  of  the  Pilgrims. 
Few  and  simple  as  they  are,  they  give  glimpses  of  a 
character  that,  under  other  circumstances,  might  have 
placed  Massasoit  among  the  illustrious  of  his  age. 
He  was  a  mere  savage  ;  ignorant  of  even  reading  and 
writing,  after  an  intercourse  of  near  fifty  years  with 
the  colonists  ;  and  distinguished  from  the  mass  of 
savages  around  him,  as  we  have  seen,  by  no  other 
outward  emblem  than  a  barbarous  ornament  of  bones. 
It  must  be  observed,  too,  as  to  them,  that  the  authority 
which  they  conferred  upon  him,  or  rather  upon  his 
ancestors,  was  their  free  gift,  and  was  liable  at  any 
moment  to  be  retracted,  wholly  or  in  part,  either  by 
the  general  voice  or  by  the  defection  or  violence  of 
individuals.  The  intrinsic  dignity  and  enei'gy  of  his 
character  alone,  therefore,  must  have  sustained  the 
dominion  of  the  sachem,  with  no  essential  distinction 
of  wealth,  retinue,  cultivation,  or  situation  in  any 
respect,  between  him  and  the  meanest  of  the  Wam- 
panoags.  The  naked  qualities  of  his  intellect  and 
his  heart  must  have  gained  their  loyalty,  controlled 
their  extravagant  passions  to  his  own  purposes,  and 
won  upon  their  personal  confidence  and  affection. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  133 

Thfit  lie  did  this  appears  from  the  fact,  so  singular 
in  Indian  history,  that  among  all  the  Pokauoket 
tribes,  there  was  scarcely  an  instance  of  even  an 
individual  broil  or  quarrel  with  the  English  during 
his  long  life.  Some  of  these  tribes,  living  nearer 
the  Colony  than  any  other  Indians,  and  going  into  it 
daily  in  such  numbers,  that  Massasoit  was  finally 
requested  to  restrain  them  from  "  pestering"  their 
friends  by  their  mere  multitude, — these  shrewd  beings 
must  have  perceived,  as  well  as  Massasoit  himself 
did,  that  the  colonists  were  as  miserably  fearful  as 
they  were  feeble  and  few.  Some  of  them,  too, — the 
sachem  Corbitant,  for  example, — were  notoriously 
hostile,  and  perhaps  had  certain  supposed  reasons 
for  being  so.  Yet  that  cunning  and  ambitious  sav 
age  extricated  himself  from  the  only  overt  act  of 
rebellion  he  is  known  to  have  attempted,  by  "solicit 
ing  the  good  offices  of  Massasoit,"  we  are  told,  "  to 
reconcile  him  to  the  English."  And  such  was  the 
influence  of  the  chief  sachem,  not  only  over  him, 
but  over  the  Massachusetts  sachems,  that  nine  of  the 
principal  of  them  soon  after  carne  into  Plymouth 
from  great  distances,  for  the  purpose  of  signifying 
their  humble  respect  for  the  authority  of  the  English. 

That  Massasoit  was  beloved  as  well  as  respected 
by  his  subjects  and  neighbors,  far  and  wide,  appears 
from  the  great  multitude  of  anxious  friends  who 
thronged  about  him  during  his  sickness.  Some  of 
them,  as  Winslow  ascertained,  had  come  more  than 
one  hundred  miles  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  him  ; 
and  they  all  watched  his  operations  in  that  case,  with 
a,s  intense  anxiety  as  if  the  prostrate  patient  had 
been  the  father  or  the  brother  of  each.  And  meagre 
as  is  the  justice  which  history  does  the  sachem,  it 
still  furnishes  some  evidence,  not  to  be  mistaken, 
that  he  hnd  won  this  regard  from  them  by  his  kind 
ness.  There  is  a  passage  of  affecting  simplicity  in 
VVinslow's  Relation,  going  to  show  that  he  did  not 
forget  their  minutest  interests,  even  in  his  own  almost 
unconscious  helplessness.  "  Tha*  morning,"  it  is 


134  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

said,  "he  caused  me  to  spend  in  going  from  one  to 
another  among  those  that  were  sick  in  the  town 
[Sowams] ;  requesting  me  to  treat  them  as  I  had 
him,  and  to  give  to  each  of  them  some  of  the  same 
I  gave  him,  saying  they  were  good  folk" 

But  these  noble  traits  of  the  character  of  Massas- 
oit  are  still  more  abundantly  illustrated  by  the  whole 
tenor  of  his  intercourse  with  the  whites.  Of  his 
mere  sense  of  his  positive  obligations  to  them,  in 
cluding  his  fidelity  to  the  famous  treaty  of  1621, 
nothing  more  need  be  said,  excepting  that  the  annals 
of  the  continent  furnish  scarcely  one  parallel  even  to 
that  case.  But  he  went  much  farther  than  this. 
He  not  only  visited  the  Colony  in  the  first  instance 
of  his  own  free  will  and  accord,  but  he  entered  into 
the  negotiations  cheerfully  and  deliberately ;  and  in 
the  face  of  their  manifest  fear  and  suspicion.  Hence 
forth  the  results  of  it  were  regarded,  not  with  the 
mere  honesty  of  an  ally,  but  with  the  warm  interest 
of  a  friend.  It  was  probably  at  his  secret  and  delicate 
suggestion, — and  it  could  scarcely  have  been  without 
his  permission,  at  all  events, — that  his  own  subjects 
took  up  their  residence  among  the  colonists,  with  the 
view  of  guiding,  piloting,  interpreting  for  them,  and 
teaching  them  their  own  useful  knowledge.  Wins- 
low  speaks  of  his  appointing  another  to  fill  the  place 
of  Squanto  at  Plymouth,  while  the  latter  should  be 
Bent  about  among  the  Pokanokets,  under  his  orders, 
"  to  procure  truck  [in  furs]  for  the  English. 

The  vast  grant  of  territory  which  he  made  in  the 
first  instance  has  been  spoken  of.  It  was  made  with 
the  simple  observation,  that  his  claim  to  it  was  the 
sole  claim  in  existence.  It  was  also  without  con 
sideration  ;  the  generous  sachem,  as  Roger  Williams 
says  of  the  Narraghansetts  in  a  similar  case,  "being 
shy  and  jealous  of  selling  the  lands  to  any,  and  choos 
ing  rather  to  make  a  gift  of  them  to  such  as  they 
affected."  Such  is  the  only  jealousy  which  Massa- 
soit  can  be  said  ever  to  have  entertained  of  the 
English.  Nor  do  we  find  any  evidence  that  he 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  1 

repented  of  his  liberality,  or  considered  't  the  incan 
tious  extravagance  of  a  moment  of  flattered  cnmplai 
sance.  We  do  find,  however,  that  he  invariably 
watched  over  the  interest  of  the  grantees,  with  more 
strictness  than  he  would  probably  have  watched  ovei 
his  own.  He  laid  claim,  in  one  instance,  to  a  trao 
for  which  Mr.  Williams  had  negotiated  with  the 
Narraghansetts,  —  that  gentleman  being  ignorant 
perhaps,  of  an  existing  controversy  between  the  twc 
tribes.  "It  is  mine,"  said  the  sachem,  "It  is  mine 
and  therefore  theirs"  —  plainly  implying  that  the 
ground  in  question  was  comprised  within  the  original 
transfer.  Whether  this  claim  was  just,  or  whether 
it  was  insisted  upon,  does  not  appear ;  but  there  is 
indication  enough,  both  of  the  opinion  and  feeling 
of  Massasoit. 

An  anecdote  of  him,  recorded  by  Governor  Win- 
throp,  under  the  title  of  a  "  pleasant  passage,"  is  still 
more  striking.  His  old  friend  Winsnow,  it  seerns, 
made  a  trading  voyage  to  Connecticut,  during  the 
summer  of  1634.  On  his  return,  he  left  his  vessel 
upon  the  Narraghansett  coast,  for  some  reason  or 
other,  and  commenced  his  journey  for  Plymouth 
across  the  woods.  Finding  himself  at  a  loss,  probably, 
as  to  his  route,  he  made  his  way  to  So  warns,  and 
called  upon  his  ancient  acquaintance,  the  sachem. 
The  latter  gave  him  his  usual  kind  welcome,  and, 
upon  his  leaving  him,  offered  to  conduct  him  home, 
— a  pedestrian  journey  of  two  days.  He  had  just 
despatched  one  of  his  Wnmpanoags  to  Plymouth, 
with  instructions  to  inform  the  friends  of  Winslow, 
that  he  was  dead,  and  to  persuade  them  of  this  mel 
ancholy  fact,  by  specifying  such  particulars  as  their 
own  ingenuity  might  suggest.  All  this  was  done 
accordingly  ;  and  the  tidings  occasioned,  as  might 
be  expected,  a  very  unpleasant  excitement  through 
out  the  Colony.  In  the  midst  of  it,  however,  on  the 
next  day,  the  sachem  entered  the  village,  attended 
by  Winslow,  and  with  more  than  his  usual  compla 
cency  in  his  honest  and  cheerful  countenance  lie 


13t>  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

was  asked  why  such  a  report  had  been  circulated 
the  day  previous.  "  That  Winsnow  might  be  the 
more  welcome,"  answered  he,  "  and  that  you  might 
be  the  more  happy, — it  is  my  custom."  He  had 
come  thus  far  to  enjoy  this  surprise  personally ;  and 
he  returned  homeward,  more  gratified  by  it,  without 
doubt,  than  he  would  have  been  by  the  most  fortu 
nate  foray  among  the  Narraghansetts. 

It  is  intimated  by  some  writers,  rather  more  fre 
quently  than  is  either  just  or  generous,  that  the  sa 
chem's  fear  of  the  tribe  just  named  lay  at  the  foun 
dation  of  his  friendship.  It  might  have  been  nearer 
the  apparent  truth,  considering  all  that  is  known  of 
Massasoit,  to  say,  that  his  interest  happened  to  coin 
cide  with  his  inclination.  At  all  events,  it  was  in 
the  power  of  any  other  of  the  sachems  or  kings 
throughout  the  country,  to  place  and  sustain  them 
selves  upon  the  same  footing  with  the  colonists,  had 
they  been  prompted  either  by  as  much  good  feeling 
or  good  sense.  On  the  contrary,  the  Massachusetts 
were  plotting  and  threatening  on  one  hand,  as  we 
have  seen, — not  without  provocation,  it  must  be  al 
lowed, — while  the  Narraghansett  sachem,  upon  the 
other,  had  sent  in  his  compliments  as  early  as  1622, 
in  the  shape  of  a  bundle  of  arrows,  tied  up  with  a 
rattlesnake's  skin. 

Nor  should  we  forget  the  wretched  feebleness  of 
the  Colony  at  the  period  of  their  first  acquaintance 
with  Massasoit.  Indeed,  the  instant  measures  which 
he  took  for  their  relief  and  protection,  look  more 
like  the  promptings  of  compassion,  than  of  either 
hope  or  fear.  A  month  previous  to  his  appearance 
among  them,  they  were  reduced  to  such  a  pitiable 
condition  by  sickness,  that  only  six  or  seven  men 
of  their  whole  number  were  able  to  do  business  in 
the  open  air ;  and  probably  their  entire  fighting 
force,  could  they  have  been  mustered  together,  would 
scarcely  have  equalled  that  little  detachment  which 
Massasoit  brought  with  him  into  the  village,  delicate 
ly  leaving  twice  as  many,  with  the  arrrs  of  allj  be- 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  13? 

hind  him;  as  he  afterwards  exchanged  six  hostages 
for  one.  No  wonder  that  the  colonists  "  could  not 
yet  conceive  but  that  he  was  willing  to  have  peace 
with  them." 

But  the  motives  of  the  sjichem  are  still  further 
manifested  by  the  sense  of  his  own  dignity,  which, 
peaceable  as  he  generally  was,  he  showed  promptly 
upon  all  suitable  occasions.  Both  the  informal  grant 
and  the  formal  deeds  we  have  mentioned,  indicate 
that  he  understood  himself  to  be  the  master  of  his 
ancestral  territory  as  much  in  right  as  in  fact.  There 
is  nothing  in  his  whole  history,  which  does  more 
honor  to  his  intelligence  or  his  sensibility,  than  his 
conduct  occasioned  by  the  falsehoods  circulated 
among  the  colonists  against  him  by  Squanto.  His 
first  impulse,  as  we  have  seen,  was  to  be  offended 
with  the  guilty  intriguant ;  the  second,  to  thank  the 
Governor  for  appealing  to  himself  in  this  case,  and 
to  assure  him  that  he  would  at  any  time  "  send  word 
and  give  warning  when  any  such  business  was  to 
wards."  On  further  inquiry,  he  ascertained  that 
Squanto  was  taking  even  more  liberties  with  his 
reputation  than  he  had  been  aware  of.  He  went 
forthwith  to  Plymouth,  and  made  his  appeal  person 
ally  to  the  Governor.  The  latter  pacified  him  as 
well  as  he  could,  and  he  returned  home.  But  a  very 
short  time  elapsed  before  a  message  came  from  him, 
entreating  the  Governor  to  consent  to  the  death  of 
the  renegade  who  still  abused  him.  The  Governor 
confessed  in  reply,  that  Squanto  deserved  death,  but 
desired  that  he  might  be  spared  on  account  of  his 
indispensable  services.  Massasoit  was  not  yet  satis 
fied.  The  former  messenger  was  again  sent,  "  with 
divers  others,"  says  Winslow  in  his  Relation,  "de 
manding  him,  [Squanto]  as  being  one  of  Massasoit's 
subjects,  whom  by  our  first  articles  of  peace  we 
could  not  retain  ;  yet  because  he  would  not  willingly 
do  it  [insist  upon  his  rights]  without  the  Governor's 
approbation,  he  offered  him  many  beaver-skins  for 
his  consent  thereto."  The  deputation  had  brought 


138  INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

these  skins,  accordingly,  as  also  the  sachem's  own 
knife,  for  the  execution  of  the  criminal.  Squanto 
now  surrendered  himself  to  the  Governor,  as  an 
Indian  always  resigns  himself  to  his  fate  upon  simi 
lar  occasions ;  but  the  Governor  still  contrived  a 
pretext  for  sparing  him.  The  deputies  were  "  mad 
with  rage  and  impatient  of  delay,"  as  may  be  sup 
posed,  and  departed  in  great  heat. 

The  conduct  of  the  sachem  in  this  case  was  mani 
festly  more  correct  than  that  of  his  ally.  He  under 
stood  as  well  as  the  Governor  did,  the  spirit  of  the 
articles  in  the  treaty,  which  provided,  that  an  offend 
er  upon  either  side  should  be  given  up  to  punish 
ment  upon  demand  ;  and  he  was  careful  to  make 
that  demand  personally,  explicitly  and  respectfully. 
The  Governor,  on  the  other  hand,  as  well  as  the 
culprit  himself,  acknowledged  the  justice  of  it,  but 
manoeuvred  to  avoid  compliance.  The  true  reason 
is  no  doubt  given  by  Winslow.  It  is  also  given  in 
the  language  of  John  Smith.  "  With  much  adoe," 
says  the  honest  Captain,  "we  appeased  the  angry 
king  and  the  rest  of  the  saluages,  and  freely  forgaue 
TUSQUANTUM,  because  he  speaking  our  language  we 
could  not  be  well  without  him."  The  king  was  angry, 
then,  as  he  well  might  be ;  and  the  Governor  took 
the  trouble,  he  was  both  bound  and  interested  to 
take,  to  appease  him.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at, 
perhaps,  that  the  particulars  of  this  transaction  are 
so  little  dwelt  upon  by  the  writers  of  that  period. 
Winslow  barely  states, — speaking,  in  another  con 
nexion,  of  the  Indians  being  evidently  aware  of  the 
weakness  of  the  Colony, — that,  what  was  worse, 
w  now  also  Massasoit  seemed  to  frown  upon  us,  and 
neither  came  nor  sent  to  us  as  formerly."  This  pas 
sage  is  no  less  significant  than  brief;  but  not  more 
BO  than  a  subsequent  dry  observation  respecting 
Squanto,  "  whose  peace,  before  this  time,  (the  fall 
of  the  same  year)  was  wrought  with  Massasoit." 

Such  were  the  life  and  character  of  Massasoit.  It 
i?  to  be  regretted,  that  so  few  particulars  are  pre- 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  139 

served  of  the  former,  and  that  so  little  justice,  con 
sequently,  can  be  done  to  the  latter.  But  so  far  as 
his  history  goes,  it  certainly  makes  him  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  men  of  his  race.  There  is  no  no 
bler  instance  in  all  history,  of  national  fidelity,  (for 
which  he  mainly  must  have  the  credit,)  or  of  indi 
vidual  friendship.  This  instinct  of  a  generous  nature 
in  the  first  instance,  being  confirmed  by  a  course  of 
conduct  generally  alike  creditable  to  the  feelings  and 
shrewdness  of  the  Colonists,  finally  settled  itself  in 
the  mind  of  Massasoit  as  ineradicably  as  his  affection 
for  his  own  subjects.  "  I  know  now,"  said  he  to  Wins- 
low,  on  his  first  recovery  from  the  severe  sickness 
we  have  mentioned,  "I  know  that  the  English  love 
me, — 1  love  them, — I  shall  never  forget  them." 

But  putting  even  the  most  unnatural  construction 
upon  the  professions  and  the  conduct  of  the  sachem, 
the  relation  he  commenced  and  for  forty-five  years 
sustained  with  the  English,  must  be  allowed  to  show 
at  least  a  consummate  sagacity.  He  certainly  suc 
ceeded  during  all  this  time,  not  only  in  shielding  his 
tribes  from  their  just  or  unjust  hostility,  but  in  gain 
ing  their  respect  to  such  a  singular  degree,  that  the 
writings  of  no  single  author  within  our  recollection 
furnish  one  \vord  to  his  disparagement.  Even  Hub- 
bard  speaks  of  him  with  something  like  regard  ; 
notwithstanding  the  obnoxious  trait  in  his  character 
indicated  in  the  following  passage.  "  It  is  very  re 
markable,"  he  says,  "that  this  Woosamequin,  how 
much  soever  he  affected  the  English,  was  never  in 
the  least  degree  well  affected  to  their  religion."  It 
is  added  furthermore,  that  in  his  last  treaty  with  the 
whites  at  Swunzey, — referring  to  a  sale  of  land  which 
we  have  mentioned, — he  exerted  himself  to  bind 
them  solemnly  "never  to  draw  away  any  of  his 
people  from  their  old  pagan  superstition  and  devilish 
idolatry  to  the  Christian  religion."*  This  he  insisted 

*In  that  rare  tract  (published  in  London,  1651.)  entitled 
"  The  Light  appearing  more  and  more  towards  the  perfect 


140  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

on,  until  they  threatened  to  break  off  the  negotiation 
on  account  of  his  pertinacity,  and  he  then  gave  up 
the  point. 

Massasoit  did  not  distinguish  himself  as  a  warrior ; 
nor  is  he  known  to  have  been  once  engaged  m  any 
open  hostilities,  even  with  the  inimical  and  powerful 
tribes  who  environed  his  territory.  This  is  another 
unique  trait  in  his  character ;  and  considering  the 
general  attachment  of  all  Indians  to  *.  belligerent 
life,  their  almost  exclusive  deference  for  warlike 
qualities,  the  number  and  scattered  location  of  the 
Pokanoket  tribes,  and  especially  th  3  character  of 
their  ancient  neighbors,  this  very  faot  is  alone  suf 
ficient  to  distinguish  the  genius  of  Massasoit.  All 
the  native  nations  of  New  England,  but  his,  were 
involved  in  dissensions  and  wars  with  each  other 
anH  with  the  whites  ;  and  they  all  shared  sooner  or 
?m.«r  the  late  which  he  avoided.  The  restless  ring- 
icaders  who  plotted  mischief  among  the  Massachu 
setts,  were  summarily  knocked  upon  the  head  by 
Miles  Standish,  while  hundreds  of  the  residue  fled, 
and  miserably  perished  in  their  own  swamps.  The 
Pequots, — a  nation  who  could  muster  three  thousand 
bowmen  but  a  short  time  previous, — were  nearly  ex 
terminated  in  3637;  and  the  savages  of  Maine,  mean 
while,  the  Mohawks  ofNew  York,  the  Narraghansetts 
and  the  Mohegans  were  fighting  and  reducing  each 
others'  strength,  as  if  their  only  object  had  been,  by 
ultimately  extirpating  themselves,  to  prepare  a  way 
in  the  wilderness  for  the  new  comers. 

Day"  &c.  and  written  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Mayhew,  it  ig 
stated,  that  some  of  the  Christian  Indians  of  Martha's  Vine 
yard  had  a  conversation  with  "  Vzzamequin  a  great  Sachem  or 
Governor  on  the  tnaine  Land  (coming  amongst  them)  aboul 
the  waves  of  God  " — he  enquiring  what  earthly  good  things 
came  along  with  them,  and  what  they  had  gained  by  their 
oiety,  &c.  This  was  previous  to  1650. 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY  141 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Mass.isoit  succeeded  by  his  son  ALEXANDER — The  occasion 
of  that  name  being  given  by  the  English  —  History  of 
Alexander  previous  to  his  father's  death — Covenant  mad« 
with  Plymouth  in  1639 — Measures  taken  in  pursuance  of  it, 
in  1661 — Anecdote  illustrating  the  character  of  Alexander 
— Notice  of  tlie  charges  made  against  him — Examination 
of  the  transaction  which  led  to  his  death — Accession  of 
PHILIP — Renewal  of  the  treaty  by  him — Interruption  of 
harmony — Supposed  causes  of  it — Measures  taken  in  conse 
quence — Philip's  submission — Letter  to  the  Plymouth  Gov 
ernor — Second  submission  in  1671 — Remarks  on  the  causes 
of  PHILIP'S  WAR. 

MASSASOIT  was  succeeded  in  the  Pokanoket  gov 
ernment  by  his  eldest  son  Moanam  or  Wamsutta, 
known  to  the  English  chiefly  by  the  name  of  ALEX 
ANDER  ;  which  appellation  he  received  at  the  same 
time  when  that  of  PHILIP  was  conferred  on  his 
younger  brother.  The  two  young  men  came  together, 
on  that  occasion,  into  open  court  at  Plymouth,  and, 
professing  great  regard  for  the  English,  requested  that 
names  should  be  given  them.  Their  father  not 
being  mentioned  as  having  attended  them  at  the 
observance  of  the  ceremony,  has  probably  occa 
sioned  the  suggestion  of  his  death.  It  would  be  a 
sufficient  explanation  of  his  absence,  however,  that 
he  was  now  an  old  man,  and  that  the  distance  of 
So  warns  from  Plymouth  was  more  than  forty  miles. 
It  is  easy  to  imagine,  that  the  solicitude  he  had 
always  manifested  to  sustain  a  good  understanding 
with  his  Plymouth  friends,  might  lead  him  to  recom 
mend  this  pacific  and  conciliatory  measure,  as  a 
suitable  preparation  for  his  own  decease,  and  perhaps 
as  the  absolute  termination  of  his  reign. 

There  is  some  reason  to  believe,  indeed,  that 
Alexander  had  a  share  in  the  Pokanoket  sovereignty 
many  years  previous  to  the  date  of  the  ceremony 


142  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

just  mentioned.  The  Plymouth  records  show,  that 
on  the  25th  of  September,  1639,  the  lather  came 
into  court,  bringing  Moanain  with  him.  He  desired 
that  the  old  treaty  of  1621  might  remain  inviolable, 
"and  the  said  Woosamequin  or  Massasoit,  and  Moa- 
uani  or  Wamsutta,"  did  also  promise  that  he  nor  they 
shall  or  will  needlessly  and  unjustly  raise  any  quar 
rels,  or  do  any  wrongs  to  other  natives,  to  provoke 
them  to  war  against  him  ;  and  that  he  or  they  shall 
not  give,  sell  or  convey,  any  of  his  or  their  lands 
territories  or  possessions  whatsoever,  to  any  person 
or  persons,  without  the  privity  and  consent  of  the 
Government  of  Plymouth  aforesaid  ;  "and  the  whole 
court  in  the  name  of  the  whole  government,  for  each 
town  respectively,  did  then  likewise  ratify  and  con 
firm  the  aforesaid  ancient  league  and  confederacy ; 
and  did  also  further  promise  to  the  said  Woosame 
quin  and  Moanain  his  son,  and  his  successors,  that 
they  shall  and  will  from  time  to  time  defend  them, 
when  occasion  shall  require,  against  all  such  as  shall 
rise  up  against  them  to  wrong  or  oppress  them  un 
justly." 

Agreeably  to  the  terms  of  this  covenant,  the  Rec 
ords  of  the  Colonies  for  1661  set  forth,  that  a  message 
was  tlu.t  year  sent  by  the  United  Commissioners  to 
Uncas,  chief  Sachem  of  the  Molegans.*  The 
complainants  in  that  case  were  the  General  Court  of 
Massachusetts ;  and  the  charge  alleged  against  Un 
cas  was  a  violent  "  Invading  of  Wesamequin  and  the 
Indians  of  Quabakutt  whoe  are  and  longe  haue  bine 
Subjects  to  the  English."  The  dominion  here  assum 
ed,  is  probably  intended  to  apply  only  to  the  Quaba- 
kutt  Indians,  and  not  to  Massasoit.  Uncas,  in  his 
answer,  professed  that  he  was  ignorant  they  were 
subjects  of  Massachusetts,  "  and  further  says  they 
were  none  of  Wesamequin's  men  but  belonging  to 
Onopequin  his  deadly  enemie."  &c. 

He  then  alleges  "  that  Wesamequin  his  son  and 

*See  the  message  and  reply  al  large  in  the  LIFE  of  Uncas 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  143 

diuers   of  his   men   had  fought  agaim>t  him   diuers 


ra 

was  Driven  in  by  Major  Mason  in  behalf  of  Uncas — 
is  as  follows : 

"  Alexander  allis  [alias]  Wamsutta  Sachem  of 
Sowamsett  being  now  att  Plymouth  hee  challenged 
Quabauke  Indians  to  belong  to  him  and  further  said 
that  hee  did  war  Warr  against  Vncas  this  summer  on 
that  account." 

It  is  very  clear  at  least  that  Alexander  maintained, 
fearlessly  and  frankly,  what  he  believed  to  be  his 
rights ;  nor  does  it  appear,  that  the  exercise  of  his 
sovereignty  in  this  manner  was  objected  to  by  the 
party  which  had  the  best,  if  not  only  right  to  object. 
He  manifested  the  same  independence  in  regard  to 
tne  efforts  of  the  English  missionaries ;  so  that 
Hubbard  concludes  he  had  "neither  affection  for 
the  Englishmen's  persons,  nor  yet  for  their  religion." 

This  is  licentious  reasoning,  at  the  best ;  for  pot  a 
tittle  of  evidence  exists  in  the  case,  so  far  as  we  are 
aware,  which  goes  to  rebut  the  just  inference  to  be 
drawn  from  the  circumstance  that  no  difficulty  or 
controversy  occurred  between  Alexander  and  his 
allies  from  his  accession  to  his  death — with  a  single 
exception.  The  excepted  case,  which  comes  in 
order  now  to  be  considered,  is  one  of  the  more  im 
portance,  that  its  immediate  effect  was  to  terminate 
at  once  the  reign  and  life  of  the  chieftain. 

In  connexion  with  the  remark  last  cited  from 
Hubbard,  that  historian  barely  observes,  that  the 
Governor  and  Council  were  informed  of  the  fact. 
Mather  states,  with  no  more  particularity,  that  the 
sachem  solicited  the  Narraghansetts  to  rebel  with 
him  ;  upon  the  good  proof  ivhereof,  the  Plymouth 
Government  adopted  certain  summary  measures. 
From  other  sources  we  find,  that  this  proof  was 
communicated  by  letters  from  Boston,  where  it  was 
probably  founded  upon  rumors  gathered  from  strag 
gling  Indians.  At  all  events,  no  conclusive  testimony 
appears  in  the  case  ;  and  it  may  be  plausibly  surmised, 


144  INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

therefore,  that  none  was  ever  received,  the  writers 
just  cited  not  being  remarkably  prone  to  emit  matters 
of  this  kind.  The  rumor  might  originate  from  cir 
cumstances  really  suspicious  ;  but  were  this  true,  and 
far  more,  if  it  were  both  false  Lnd  malicious,  like  the 
charges  against  Massasoit,  we  may  well  question 
both  the  justice  and  the  policy  of  the  steps  taken  by 
the  Plymouth  Government. 

"  They  presently  sent  for  him.  to  bring  him  to  the 
court,"  says  Hubbard, — a  very  remarkable  proceed 
ing,  related  with  a  corresponding  brevity.  The 
business  was  intrusted,  it  also  appears,  to  a  gentleman 
who  was  neither  afraid  of  danger,  nor  yet  willing  to 
delay  in  a  matter  of  this  moment.  We  are  then  told 
that  this  gentleman,  Mr.  Winslow,  forthwith  taking 
eight  or  ten  stout  men  with  him,  well  armed,  set  out 
for  So  warns  ;  that  he  fortunately  met  with  Alexander, 
at  a  few  miles'  distance,  in  a  wigwam  with  eighty 
of  his  followers  ;  that  they  seized  upon  the  arms  of 
the  party,  which  had  been  left  without  the  wigwam, 
and  then  went  in  and  summoned  the  sachem  to  at 
tend  them  to  Plymouth.  He  obeyed,  reluctantly, 
being  threatened  that  "  if  he  stirred  or  refused  to  go, 
he  was  a  dead  man."  Such  was  his  spirit,  however, 
adds  Hubbard,  that  the  very  surprisal  of  him  threw 
him  into  a  fever.  Upon  this,  he  requested  liberty  to 
return  home,  and  the  favor  was  granted  to  him  on 
certain  conditions  ;  but  he  died  upon  the  way. 

This  account  agrees  with  Mather's.  "  The  Gov 
ernment  sent  that  valiant  and  excellent  commander," 
says  the  Reverend  Doctor,  "  to  fetch  him  down  be 
fore  them.  The  major-general  used  such  expedition 
and  resolution  in  this  affair,  that,  assisted  with  no 
more  than  ten  men,  he  seized  upon  Alexander  at  a 
hunting-house,  notwithstanding  his  numerous  attend 
ants  about  him  ;  and  when  the  raging  sachem  saw  a 
pistol  at  his  breast,  with  a  threatening  of  death  to 
him  if  he  did  not  quietly  yield  himself  up  to  go  down 
to  Plymouth,  he  yielded,  though  not  very  quietly, 
thereunto."  Mather  attributes  his  death,  furthermore, 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  145 

lo  the  "  inward  fury  of  his  own  guilty  and  haughty 
mind."  Now,  even  if  the  sachem  were  not  compel 
led  to  travel  faster  or  further  than  was  decent  in  his 
unfortunate  situation,  as  one  of  our  authorities  is 
careful  to  argue  ;  and  granting  to  the  other,  that  he 
was  treated  (on  the  march)  with  no  other  than  that 
humanity  and  civility,  which  was  essential  to  the  Major* 
General,*  it  is  abundantly  clear,  we  conceive,  that  a 
more  hot-blooded  or  high-handed  measure  could 
hardly  have  been  executed  by  the  adventurous  John 
Smith  himself.  The  son  of  Massasoit,  and  the  rulei 
of  a  nation  who  had  been  forty  years  in  alliance  and 
warm  friendship  with  the  Colonists, — throughout  all 
their  feebleness,  and  in  spite  of  all  jealousies  and 
provocations, — was  assaulted  in  his  own  territory 
and  among  his  own  subjects,  insulted,  threatened, 
and  finally  forced  to  obey  a  summons  of  his  ancient 
ally  to  appear  before  his  court  for  his  trial.  It  dots 
not  appear  that  he  was  even  apprised  of  the  occasion 
which  required  his  attendance.  And  what  is  worse 
than  all  the  rest,  the  whole  proceeding  was  founded,  so 
far  as  we  can  ascertain,  upon  no  better  testimony  than 
accusations  gathered  from  stragglers  at  Boston,  and 
ihen  communicated  "  by  letters  "  to  Plymouth.  It 
must  be  admitted,  that  a  different  coloring  is  put 
upon  the  affair  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cotton,  whose  re 
lation  may  be  found  among  the  excellent  notes  ap 
pended  to  Mr.  Davis's  recent  edition  of  Morton.  He 
states,  that  the  sachem  readily  consented  to  attend 
Winslow  ;  and  that  he  was  barely  examined  before 
certain  justices  at  Eastham,  and  dismissed.  This 
account,  however,  does  not  much  mitigate  the  essen 
tial  circumstances  of  the  case  ;  and  it  admits  the  fact, 
that  the  sachem  died  within  two  or  three  days  after 
being  carried  home  on  the  shoulders  of  his  men, 


*  Among  other  civilities,  he  was  offered  the  use  of  a  horse 
on  the  journey,  and  declined  that  favor  on  the  ground  that  some 
of  his  women,  in  the  company,  were  obliged  to  walk;  a  fin* 
trait  of  savage  politeness. 

10—10 


146  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

although  the  English  party  seem  to  have  found  him 
in  perfect  health. 

Such  was  the  ignominious  death  of  Alexander, 
and  under  such  circumstances  did  the  government 
devolve  upon  his  brother  Metacom, — or  Philip,  as 
he  is  generally  called.  That  Prince  seems  to  have 
assumed  the  Pokanoket  government,  favored  by  a 
more  than  usual  popularity  ;  for  the  event  was  cele 
brated  by  the  rejoicing  and  revelry  of  multitudes  of 
his  subjects,  sachems  and  others,  gathered  together 
from  the  remotest  limits  of  his  territory.  One  of  his 
earliest  measures,  was  to  appear  with  his  uncle  be 
fore  the  Plymouth  Court,  following  the  example  of 
his  father  and  brother.  He  expressed  an  earnest 
wisn  for  the  continuance  of  peace  and  amity  ;  and 
pledged  himself, — as  the  Court  did  also  upon  the 
other  hand, — to  use  all  suitable  measures  for  effecting 
that  desirable  purpose.  For  several  years  after  this, 
the  intercourse  between  the  two  parties  went  or, 
ostensibly,  as  it  had  done  in  former  times,  though 
probably  not  without  some  distrust  upon  both  sides. 

The  first  public  interruption  of  this  harmony  oc 
curred  in  1671,  during  which  season  Philip  was 
heard  to  complain,  openly,  of  certain  encroachments 
by  the  English  upon  his  hunting- grounds.  About 
the  same  time,  rumors  were  circulated  that  his  sub 
jects  frequently  assembled  at  various  places  in  un 
wonted  numbers;  and  were  repairing  their  guns, 
and  sharpening  their  hatchets.  The  Plymouth  Gov 
ernment  were  alarmed.  They  sent  messengers  to 
communicate  with  the  Massachusetts  Government, 
and  at  the  same  time  other  messengers  to  Philip,  not 
"  to  fetch  him  before  the  Court,"  as  in  the  case  of  his 
brother,  but  to  ascertain  his  intentions. 

He  seems  to  have  paid  a  dignified  regard  to  this 
measure.  On  the  10th  of  April,  a  message  was  re 
ceived  from  him,  inviting  the  officers  of  the  Plymouth 
Government  to  a  conference.  It  was  received  by 
the  latter  at  Taunton,  where  also  were  several  gentle 
men,  despatched  by  the  Massachusetts  Government, 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  141 

with  instructions  to  mediate  between  the  contending 
parties.  Governor  Prince,  of  Plymouth,  sent  word 
Lack  to  Philip, — who  was  tarrying  meanwhile  at 
what  is  now7  called  Three-mile-river,  about  ibur  miles 
from  Taunton  green, — that  he  was  heartily  disposed 
to  treat  with  him,  and  expected  that  the  sachem 
would  come  forward  for  that  purpose  ;  and  his  per 
sonal  safety  was  guaranteed  in  case  he  should  do  so. 
Philip  so  far  complied  with  the  request,  as  to  advance 
a  considerable  distance  nearer  the  village.  He  then 
stationed  himself  at  a  place  called  Grossman's  mill, 
placed  sentinels  on  a  hill  in  his  rear,  and  again  des 
patched  messengers  to  the  Governor,  desiring  an 
interview.  This,  the  town's-people,  who  could 
scarcely  be  restrained  from  falling  forthwith  upon  the 
Indian  party,  would  not  permit.  At  last,  the  Mas 
sachusetts  Commissioners,  volunteering  to  take  the 
supposed  hazard  upon  themselves,  went  to  Philip, 
and  persuaded  him  to  consent  to  a  conference.  This 
was  on  condition  that  his  men  should  accompany 
him  ;  and  that  the  business  should  be  done  at  the 
meeting-house,  one  side  of  which  was  to  be  reserved 
for  the  Wampanoags,  and  the  other  for  the  English. 
The  council  took  place  agreeably  to  these  arrang- 
rnents,  in  the  old  meeting-house  of  Taunton.  The 
English  stood  upon  one  side,  solemn  and  stern  in 
countenance,  as  they  were  formal  in  garb  ;  and  op 
posite  to  them,  a  line  of  Indian  warriors,  armed  and 
arrayed  for  battle,  their  long  black  hair  hanging 
about  their  necks,  and  their  eyes  gleaming  covertly 
with  a  flame  of  suspicion  and  defiance,  scarcely  to 
be  suppressed.  Philip  alone  was  their  orator.  He 
denied  that  he  entertained  any  hostile  design ;  arid 
promptly  explained  his  preparations  for  war,  as  in 
tended  for  defence  against  the  Narraghansetts.  The 
Commissioners  rejoined,  however,  with  such  argu 
ments  and  evidence  as  satisfied  themselves  and  com 
pletely  surprised  him.  At  least,  he  affected  to  admit 
all  that  was  alleged  against  him  ;  and  though  he  re 
fused  to  give  compensation  for  past  aggressions,  he 


148  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

and  some  of  his  counsellors  subscribed  an  acknow 
ledgement  drawn  up  by  the  English  in  the  words 
following : 

"Taunton,  April  10th,  1671. 

Whereas  my  father,  and  my  brother  and  myself 
have  formerly  submitted  ourselves  unto  the  king's 
majesty  of  England,  and  to  this  colony  of  New 
Plymouth,  by  solemn  covenant  under  our  hand  ;  but 
I  having  of  late,  through  my  indiscretion  and  the 
naughtiness  of  my  heart,  violated  and  broken  this 
my  covenant  with  my  friends,  by  taking  up  arms 
with  an  evil  intent  against  them,  and  that  ground- 
lessly ;  I  being  now  deeply  sensible  of  my  unfaithful 
ness  and  folly,  do  desire  at  this  time  solemnly  to  renew 
my  covenant  with  my  ancient  friends,  and  my  father's 
friends  above  mentioned,  and  do  desire  that  this 
may  testify  to  the  world  against  me  if  ever  I  shall 
again  in  my  faithfulness  towards  them  (whom  I  have 
now  and  at  all  times  found  kind  toward  me)  or  any 
other  of  the  English  colonies.  And  as  a  pledge  of 
my  true  intentions  for  the  future  to  be  faithful  and 
friendly,  I  do  freely  engage  to  resign  up  to  the 
Government  of  New  Plymouth  all  my  English  arms, 
to  be  kept  by  them  for  their  security  so  long  as  they 
shall  see  reason.  For  the  true  performance  of  the 
promises,  1  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  together 
with  the  rest  of  my  counsel. 

l  f  The  mark  P  of  PHILIP, 

In  presence  of  T,]e  mKrk  y  Qf  TAVQ 

W!^L          Hnnso*  The  mark  M  of  C^1'  Wl8POKE> 

WILLIAM  HUDSON,  Th  fe  T  of  WoowCHAPOHCHOHK. 

THOMAS  BRATTLE.  Thg  marR  g  Qf  NlMROD.,, 

From  the  tenor  of  this  submission,  it  has  been 
generally  supposed  that  the  Sachem  was  frightened 
into  it.  Hence  Hubbard  relates,  that  "one  of  his 
captains,  of  far  better  courage  and  resolution  than 
himself,  when  he  saw  his  cowardly  temper  and  dis 
position,  flung  down  his  arms,  called  him  white- 
livered  cur,  or  to  that  purpose,  and  from  that  time 
turned  to  the  English,''  &c.  This  might  be  true, 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  149 

though  it  is  well  known,  that  Mr.  Huhhard's  authori 
ty  in  regard  to  every  thing  touching  the  character  of 
Philip  is  to  be  regarded  with  many  allowances  for 
his  intemperate  prejudice.  He  hesitates  not,  almost 
as  often  as  he  finds  occasion  to  mention  his  name,  to 
pay  him  the  passing  compliment  of 'caitiff,'  'hell 
hound,'  '  fiend,'  '  arch-rebel,'  and  various  similar  de 
signations  of  respect  and  affection. 

But  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  acknowledgement 
was  at  least  a  mere  artifice  to  gain  time.  Apparent 
ly  it  had  no  effect  in  reference  to  the  impending  hos 
tilities,  other  than  to  hasten  them  by  aggravating  the 
ill-will  of  the  Indians.  It  does  not  appear  that  their 
arms  were  given  up,  even  so  far  as  stipulated  in  the 
submission.  The  following  reply  of  Philip  to  some 
communication  respecting  them  may  be  deemed  ex 
position  of  his  side  of  the  question.  The  precise 
date  is  undetermined. 

"  SACHEM  PHILIP,  his  answer  to  the  letter  brought 
fo  him  from  the  GOVERNOR  of  NEW  PLYMOUTH. 

First.  Declaring  his  thankfulness  to  the  Governor 
for  his  great  respects  and  kindness  manifested  in  the 
letter. 

Secondly.  Manifesting  his  readiness  to  lay  down 
their  arms,  and  send  his  people  about  their  usual 
business  and  employments,  as  also  his  great  desire 
of  concluding  of  peace  with  neighboring  English, 

Thirdly.  Inasmuch  as  great  fears  and  jealousies 
hath  been  raised  in  their  minds  by  several  persons,  ivhich 
noiv  they  better  understand  the  falsity  of  such  reports,  as 
katk  formerly  been  conveyed  iinto  them,  Philip  doth 
humbly  request  the  Governor  will  please  favorably 
to  excuse  and  aquit  them  from  any  payment  of  dam 
age,  or  s wren dering  their  arms,  they  not  apprehending 
themselves  blameworthy  in  those  late  rumors. 

Fourthly.  They  are  not  at  present  free  to  promise 
to  appear  at  court,  hoping  there  will  be  no  necessity 
of  it.  in  case  their  freedom  for  peace  and  readiness  to 
lay  down  arms  ma\  be  accepted  ;  as  also  suggestions 
M' great  danger  that  will  befall  them,  in  case  they  ap. 


150  INDIAN    BIOGR4PHY. 

pear,  with  harsh  threats  to  the  Sachem,  that  may  be 
considered. 

Per  me,  SAMUEL  GORTEN  Junior." 

Whether  Philip  was  at  this  time  preparing  for  war 
cannot  be  decided :  but  he  was  evidently  as  yet  un 
prepared.  He  went  to  Boston,  therefore,  during  the 
month  of  August  (1671).  He  knew  the  Massachu 
setts  government  to  be  more  friendly  to  him  than 
the  Plymouth  ;  and  although  letters  had  arrived  that 
very  day  from  the  latter  place,  announcing  an  inten 
tion  of  declaring  war  upon  him  forthwith,  the  Sachem 
succeeded  in  persuading  the  Massachusetts  authori 
ties  of  his  entire  innocence.  They  sent  a  proposal 
to  Plymouth  for  a  new  council,  to  settle  all  difficul 
ties.  This  being  declined,  they  gave  their  opinion 
decidedly  against  war.  Staggered  by  this  declara 
tion,  the  government  of  the  old  colony  consented  to 
try  the  effect  of  another  mediation.  A  conference 
of  all  parties  soon  after  took  place  at  Plymouth  :  and 
the  following  articles  of  accommodation  were  agreed 
upon. 

"1.  We,  PHTLIP  and  my  Council  and  my  subjects, 
do  acknowledge  ourselves  subject  to  his  Majesty  the 
King  of  England,  and  the  government  of  New 
Plymouth,  and  to  their  laws. 

2.  I  am  willing  and  do   promise  to  pay  unto  the 
government  of  Plymouth  one  hundred   pounds  in 
such  things  as  I  have  ;  but  I  would  intreat  the  favor 
that  I  might  have  three  years  to  pay  it  in,  forasmuch 
as  I  cannot  do  it  at  present. 

3.  I   do   promise   to   send  unto  the  governor,  or 
whom  he  shall  appoint,  five  wolves'  heads,  if  I  can 
get  them  ;  or  as  many  as  1  cart  procure,  until  they 
come  to  five  wolves  yearly. 

4.  If  any  difference  fall  between  the  English  and 
myself  and  people,  then  I  do  promise  to  repair  to 
the  governor  of  Plymouth,  to   rectify  the  difference 
amongst  us. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  151 

5.  I  do  promise  not  to  make   war  with  any,  but 
with  the  Governor's  approbation  of  Plymouth. 

6.  I   promise  not  to  dispose  of  any  of  the  lands 
that  I  have  at  present,  but  by  the  approbation  of 
the  governor  of  Plymouth. 

For  the  true  performance  of  the  premises,  I  the 
said  Sachem  ;  Philip  of  Paukamakett,*  do  hereby 
bind  myself,  and  such  of  my  council  as  are  present, 
ourselves,  our  heirs,  our  successors,  faithfully,  and 
do  promise;  in  witness  thereof,  we  have  hereunto 
subscribed  our  hands,  the  day  and  year  above  written. 

[In  the  presence,  of  tJie  Court,        The  mark  P  of  PHILIP. 
divers  magistrates,  iic.J  The  mark  [  of  UNCOMPAEN. 

The  mark  f  of  WOCOKON. 
The  mark  7  ofSAMKAMA." 


This  negotiation  was  a  new  stratagem  :  f  and  the 
success  of  it  answered  the  purpose  of  Philip  coin 
pletely  ;  for  although  he  does  not  appear  to  have 
killed  one  wolf,  or  paid  one  cent,  even  "  in  such 
things  as  he  had,"  nothing  occurred  for  three  years, 
to  rouse  the  suspicions  of  the  Colonies.  There  can 
scarcely  be  a  doubt,  that  during  all  this  time,  —  if  not 
for  a  longer  time  previous,  —  the  sachem  was  matur- 

*j?lias  Pokanokit.     Other  variations  of  this  ill-fated  word,  are 
PACKANOKIK  and  PLTCK\NOKICK,  hy        PURCHAS. 
POCAJJAKET.  MORTON. 

POOKANOCKETT.  MoRTON's   Co?fTl  NUATOR 

PACANOKIK.  PRINCE. 

POKANOCKETT.  HuTCHI  NSO  I*. 

PAWKUMNAWKUTT.  GOOKIN. 

PUCKANOKIK.  WIKSLOW'S  RELATION 

POKANACKET.  HUBBARD. 

t  Mather  remarks  upon  the  passage  thus:  "  When  the  Duke 
of  Archette,  at  his  being  made  governor  of  Antwerp  castl<>, 
look  an  oath  to  keep  it  faithfully  for  King  Philip  of  Spain, 
the  >ffieer  that  gave  him  his  oath  used  these  odd  words.  If 
you  perform  what  you  promise,  God  help  you;  if  you  do 
it  not,  the  Devil  take  your  body  and  soul!  and  all  the 
'  gtanrlers-by  cried  Amen!'  But  when  the  Indian  King  Philip 
took  his  oath,  nobody  used  these  words  unto  him;  neverthe 
less  you  shall  see  anon  whether  these  words  were  not  ex  p  res 
sive  enough  of  what  became  of  him  !" 


i52  INDIAN     BIOGRAPH1. 

ing  one  of  the  grandest  plans  ever  conceived  by  m\y 
savage  ; — that  of  utterly  exterminating  the  English 
of  the  northern  provinces.  This,  he  was  well  awai  e, 
could  only  be  done  by  means  commensurate  wilh 
the  danger  and  difficulty  of  the  enterprise.  The 
Colonies  were  no  longer  the  feeble  and  timid  allies, 
known  fifty  years  before  to  his  father.  They  had 
grown  in  numbers  and  in  strength  ;  and  still  more 
in  experience  and  spirit.  Nothing  less,  than  a  gen 
eral  union  of  the  New  England  tribes,  who  lived 
among  and  around  them  all,  would  furnish  a  safe 
guarantee  for  the  complete  success  of  such  a  wai 
as  was  now  meditated. 

To  that  great  preparation,  then,  the  whole  energies 
of  Philip  must  be  devoted.  It  was  as  difficult,  he 
well  knew,  as  it  was  desirable.  The  ruler  of  one 
small  confederacy, — already  suspected,  and  constantly 
under  the  close  scrutiny  of  his  powerful  neighbors, 
— he  must  unite  and  interest  in  one  common  object, 
a  multitude  of  scattered  nations  who  had  met  and 
known  each  other,  until  this  time,  only  in  jealousy, 
envy,  revenge,  and  in  many  cases  hereditary  and 
inveterate  war  ;  and  among  whose  councils  no  similar 
plan,  for  any  purpose  whatever,  had  ever  been  con 
ceived  of.  How  far  Philip  surmounted  these  obsta 
cles,  will  be  seen.  The  great  train  of  events  we  are 
approaching,  are  so  interesting  both  as  a  passage  of 
general  history,  and  still  more,  as  they  implicate  and 
illustrate  the  character  of  Philip,  that  it  may  be 
proper  to  take  some  notice  of  the  causes  which  gave 
rise  to  them.  It  is  well  known,  that  his  English 
contemporaries  looked  upon  him,  very  generally, 
with  feelings  far  from  benevolent.  It  was  natural 
under  the  circumstances  that  they  should  do  so  ;  but 
it  is  no  more  necessary,  than  it  is  philosophical  or 
just,  on  the  other  hand,  to  confide 'implicitly  either 
in  their  opinions  or  their  statements.  Philip  and  his 
Wampanoags  are  unlucky  enough,  like  the  lion  in 
the  fable,  to  have  no  painter. 

Il   should  be  observed  here,  that  Philip  like  his 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  i53 

elder  brother,  unquestionably  considered  himself  an 
ally  and  not  a  subject  of  the  English  ; — at  least,  until 
his  nominal  submission  in  1671.  Even  the  same 
authorities  who  record  this  submission,  speak  of  his 
renewing  his  ancient  covenant,  (as  indeed  the  instru 
ment  itself  shows.)  A  distinct  article  recognises 
Massasoit  as  an  independent  sovereign.  Philip,  then, 
held  the  same  relation  to  the  English,  that  his  father 
and  brother  had  done  for  the  fifty  years,  during  which 
the  two  parties  had  treated  and  associated  upon 
equal  and  intimate  terms.  He  was  bound  by  the 
same  engagements,  and  possessed  of  the  same  rights  ; 
and  it  only  remains  to  be  seen,  if  due  regard  was 
paid  to  these  circumstances  upon  either  side. 

Now,  we  look  upon  the  assault  of  Alexander,  in 
1662,  in  the  first  place,  as  not  only  a  sufficient  cause 
of  suspicion  and  resentment,  but  of  war ;  and  that, 
upon  the  best  construction  which  can  be  put  upon 
the  most  favorable  of  the  ex-parte  relations  that 
appear  upon  record.  By  the  old  treaty  itself,  which 
Alexander  also  took  the  gratuitous  trouble  to  renew, 
— and  without  any  reference  to  courtesy  or  humanity 
or  to  national  fidelity,  or  to  personal  friendship, 
existing  up  to  this  date, — the  English  were  bound 
generally  to  treat  him  as  an  allied  sovereign,  and 
especially  to  make  a  preliminary  demand  of  satis 
faction,  in  a(l  cases  of  complaint.  We  have  seen  that 
the  charge  brought  against  him  in  1662, — vague  and 
unsupported  as  it  was, — was  not  so  much  as  explained 
to  the  sachem,  previously  to  his  being  taken  from  his 
own  territory  by  an  armed  force,  and  carried  before 
an  English  Justice  of  the  Peace.  In  no  other  instance 
does  the  Plymouth  Colony  seem  to  have  exercised  an 
authority  of  this  nature,  even  over  the  meanest  sub 
jects  of  the  sachem.  u  Inasmuch  as  complaint  is 
made,  that  many  Indians  pass  into  divers  places  of 
this  jurisdiction,"  say  the  records  of  the  Colony  for 
1660,  "  it  is  enacted  that  no  strange  or  foreign  Indiana 
be  permitted  to  become  residents,  and  'that  notice 
be  given  to  the  several  sa<r,:nnores  to  prevent  the  same.''  " 


154  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

A  remark  might  be  made  upon  the  policy  of  laws 
tike  these,  so  far  as  the  Pokanokets  were  concerned ; 
as  also  of  the  acts  of  3652,  and  1653,  which  prohibi 
ted  the  sale  of  casks,  barques,  boats  and  horses,  to 
the  Indians,  besides  providing  a  punishment  for  such 
of  them,  resident  in  the  Colony,  as  should  violate  the 
Christian  sabbath,  or  discharge  their  guns  in  the 
night-time.  But  these  regulations  the  Government 
had  an  undoubted  right  to  make,  as  Massasoit  and 
Philip  had  possessed  a  right, — which,  however,  they 
were  complaisant  enough  to  relinquish, — of  selling 
their  own  lands  to  purchasers  of  their  own  choosing. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  previous  to  the  sub 
mission  of  1671.  With  regard  to  this,  it  is  quite 
clear  that,  even  if  Philip  was  made  to  understand  the 
instrument  which  it  is  well  known  he  could  not  rcarf, 
he  could  look  upon  it  only  as  an  insult,  imposed  upon 
him  under  circumstances  amounting  to  duress.  In 
dependently  of  any  force,  too,  he  must  have  thought 
himself  justified,  by  the  manifest  disposition  and  the 
summary  measures  of  the  English,  in  availing  him 
self  of  any  stratagem  to  lull  suspicion  and  to  gain 
time.  He  might  or  might  not,  at  this  period  or  be 
fore,  have  meditated  acting  offensively  against  them, 
in  revenge  of  the  indignity  suffered  by  his  brother 
and  his  nation  ;  but  it  was  certainly  both  prudent 
and  patriotic  in  him,  to  put  himself  on  the  defensive. 
He  had  a  right,  it  appears  to  us,  both  to  drill  his  own 
people  in  martial  exercises,  and  to  make  alliances 
with  his  Indian  neighbors. 

It  might  have  been  a  safe  policy  in  the  Plymouth 
Government,  to  have  considered  these  things,  in  re 
gard  at  least  to  what  they  might  call  the  jealous  and 
barbarous  prejudices  of  the  Indians,  before  proceeding 
to  extremities  with  either  Alexander  or  Philip.  On 
the  contrary,  while  they  enacted  laws,  and  encourag 
ed  accusations,  and  took  the  execution  of  the  penalty 
of  them  into  their  own  hands,  they  used  no  means  to 
conciliate  Philip,  but  sending  for  him  to  appear  be 
fore  "  the  Plymouth  Court."  Whether  they  were 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  155 

cautious  in  all  other  respects  after  this  time  to  avoid 
offence,  it  is  not  to  he  expected  that  history  should 
enable  us  to  determine.  We  find,  however,  that  cer 
tain  of  the  Colonists,  in  1(>73,  took  upon  them  to  ne 
gotiate  treaties  for  land  with  private  subjects  of  Phi 
lip  ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt,  that  they  entered 
and  kept  possession  accordingly.  As  the  sachems 
are  known  to  have  been  as  tenacious  of  their  territory 
in  claim,  as  they  were  liberal  of  it  in  disposal,  it  may 
well  be  conceived  that  this  first  instance  of  a  similar 
nature  upon  record,  should  occasion  Philip  no  little 
dissatisfaction.  In  imitation  of  the  English  courtesy 
he  might  have  despatched  Nimrod,  Tobias,  Woonk 
aponcpunt,  or  some  other  of  his  "valiant  and  excel 
lent  "  majors-generals  to  "  fetch  down  "  the  offending 
grantees  to  Sowams.  He  seems  to  have  taken  no 
express  notice  of  the  affair.  But  that  he  understood 
his  territorial  rights,  is  apparent  from  the  singular 
communication  which  follows.  It  is  preserved  in  the 
Collections  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society, 
(volume  second  of  the  first  series,)  as  precisely  copied 
from  the  original,  which  is  still  preserved  at  Ply 
mouth. 

"  King  Philip  desire  to  let  you  understand  that  he 
could  not  come  to  the  Court,  for  Tom,  his  interpreter, 
has  a  pain  in  his  back,  that  he  could  not  travel  so  far, 
and  Philip  sister  is  very  sik. 

"Philip  would  intreat  that  favor  of  you,  and  aney 
of  the  magistrals  if  aney  English  or  Engians  speak 
about  aney  land,  he  pray  you  to  give  them  no  answer  at 
all.  This  last  summer  he  made  that  prom  is  with 
you,  that,  he  would  not  sell  no  land  in  seven  years 
time,  for  that  he  would  have  no  Knglish  trouble  him 
before  that  time,  he  has  not  forgot  that  you  promia 
him. 

"  He  will  come  as  soon  as  possible  as  he  can  to 
speak  with  you,  and  so  I  rest,  you  very  loving  friend, 
Philip,  dwelling  at  mount  hope  nek."* 

*  Since  the  text  was  written,  our  opinion  has  been  confirmed 
by  meeting  with  the  following  significant  query  in  a  petition- 


156  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

This  unique  letter  is  addressed  "  To  the  much 
honered  Governor,  Mr.  Thomas  Prince,  dwelling  at 
Plymouth."  As  Philip  himself  could  neither  read 
nor  write,  the  honor  of  the  orthography  and  construc 
tive  must  be  attributed  to  the  infirm  interpreter.  But 
the  sentiments  are  worthy  of  the  sachem  himself,  and 
they  certainly  manifest  a  mingled  civility  and  inde 
pendence  which  do  him  great  credit.  No  date  ia 
affixed  to  the  letter.  If  it  do  not  refer  to  the  transac 
tion  just  mentioned,  it  was  probably  prompted  by 
some  other  of  the  same  description.  The  interest 
which  the  sachem  felt  in  cases  of  this  kind,  is  appa 
rent  from  one  of  his  own  conveyances,  made  in  1668. 
It  was  of  a  tract  included  within  the  present  limits 
of  Rochester,  upon  the  sea-shore.  He  drafted  an 
accurate  plan  of  it  with  his  own  hand,  (still  preserved 
upon  the  records  of  the  Old  Colony)  arid  forwarded 
it  to  the  Court,  with  the  following  explanation. 

"  This  may  inform  the  honorable  Court,"  we  read, 
"  that  I,  Philip,  am  willing  to  sell  the  land  within  this 
draught,  but  the  Indians  that  are  upon  it  may  live 
upon  it  still ;  but  the  land  that  is  mine  that  is  sold, 
and  Watashpoo  is  of  the  same  mind.  I  have  put 
down  all  the  principal  names  of  the  land  we  are  nou 
willing  should  be  sold."  Watashpoo  was  probably 
one  of  the  occupants,  chiefly  interested  in  the  case. 
The  letter  ends  thus  ;  "  Know  all  Men  by  these  Pres 
ents,  That  Philip  has  given  power  unto  Wdtashpoo, 
and  Sampson,  and  their  brethren,  to  hold  and  make 
sale  of  said  land  to  whom  they  will,"  &c.  This  letter 
must  have  been  sent  in  compliance  with  some  re 
quest  from  his  Plymouth  friends.  It  is  dated  at 
Pocanauket ;  subscribed  by  the  capital  P,  which  was 


( f  Mr.  Gookin  and  Mr.  Elliot  to  the  Massachusetts  Government 
in  1684,  for  the  rescinding  of  certain  purchases  made  of  the 
Indians  which  they  considered  fraudulent: — "  Was  not  a 
principal  cause  of  the  late  war  about  encroachments  on 
Philip'' s  lands  at  Mount  Hope  ?"  ]\o  remarks  of  ours  can 
add  to  the  force  of  a  suggestion  from  such  a  source. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  157 

me  sachem's  mark  ;   and  attested,  and  no  doubt  writ 
ten,  by  his  secretary,  John  Sassamon. 

Sassamon  is  distinguished  in  history  as  having  been 
the  immediate  occasion  of  the  first  open  hostilities. 
He  was  born  in  some  family  of  praying  Indians,  an-i 
after  receiving  a  tolerable  education  at  Cambridge 
and  other  places,  was  employed  as  a  school-master  at 
Natick.  The  composition  above  cited  rather  sup 
ports  Hubbard's  remark,  that  he  was  a  "  cunning 
and  plausible  Indian,  well  skilled  in  the  English 
language."  This  writer  says,  that  he  left  the  English 
on  account  of  some  misdemeanor.  Mather  states, 
that  "  apostatizing  from  the  profession  of  Christianity, 
lie  lived  like  a  heathen,  in  the  quality  of  secretary  to 
King  Philip."  He  adds,  that  he  afterwards  deserted 
the  sachem,  and  gave  such  notable  evidences  of  re 
pentance,  as  to  be  employed  in  preaching  among 
the  Indians  at  Natick,  under  the  eye  of  his  old  in- 
structer,  the  venerable  Eliot. 

This  was  another  of  the  provocations  which  must 
have  annoyed  Philip.  Hubbard  states  expressly, 
that  Sassamon  was  importunately  urged  to  forsake 
him  ;  and  it  appears  from  other  sources,  that  there 
had  previously  been  such  an  entire  confidence 
between  the  two,  that  the  Secretary  was  intrusted 
with  all  the  secrets  of  his  master.  The  provocation 
went  still  farther.  Sassamon,  either  having  or  pre 
tending  to  have  some  occasion  to  go  among  the 
Pokanokets  frequently,  availed  himself  of  this  oppor 
tunity  to  scrutinize  their  movements,  and  to  report 
them  as  he  thought  proper  to  the  English.  In 
consequence  of  this,  Philip  and  some  of  his  subjects 
were  '  examined,'  we  are  told,  but  nothing  definite 
was  learned  from  them.  Soon  after,  Sassamon 
disappeared;  and  as  he  had  expressed  some  well- 
founded  fears  of  meeting  with  a  violent  death  in  the 
course  of  these  manoeuvres,  his  friends  were  alarm 
ed.  They  commenced  a  search,  and  finally  found 
his  dead  body  in  Assawomset  pond,  (in  Middle- 
borough)  where  a  hole  in  the  ice,  through  which  he 
O 


158  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

had  been  thrust,  was  still  open,  and  his  hat  and  gun 
left  near  by,  as  if  he  had  drowned  himself.  "Fur 
thermore,"  says  Mather,  "  upon  the  jealousies  of  the 
spirits  of  men  that  he  might  have  met  with  some 
foul  play,  a  jury  was  empanelled,  unto  whom  it  ap 
peared  that  his  neck  was  broken,  which  is  one  Indian 
way  of  murdering" 

The  next  step  of  the  Plymouth  Government  was 
to  seize  upon  three  Pokanoket  Indians,  on  the  testi 
mony  of  a  fourth,  "found?  says  Hubbard,  "  by  a 
strange  providence."  This  man  swore  that  he  had 
seen  the  murder  committed  from  a  hill  near  the 
pond.  It  must  be  inferred  that  he  swore  to  the  identity 
of  the  prisoners,  for  it  appears  they  were  convicted 
from  "his  undeniable  testimony  and  other  circum 
stances,"*  and  forthwith  hanged.  Whatever  may  be 
said  of  the  legal,  the  moral  probability  certainly  is, 
that  they  were  guilty.  They  were  probably  appointed 
to  execute  the  judgment  of  Philip  upon  Sassamon, 
one  of  them  being  Tobias,  a  man  of  some  distinction 
At  all  events,  Philip  must  have  thought  himself  jus 
tified  in  taking  this  summary  measure  with  a  vaga 
bond  who  was  mean  enough  to  avail  himself,  as 
Sassamon  did,  of  being  tolerated  in  his  territory  after 
having  betrayed  his  confidence,  and  apparently  for 
the  very  purpose  of  following  up  his  own  treason. 

*  The  Colonists  were  but  too  ready,  throughout  these  transac 
tions,  to  believe  any  thing  and  every  tiling  which  supported  a 
charge  against  Philip.  One  of  the  undeniable  circumstances 
is,  probably,  stated  by  Mather.  The  dead  body  bled  afresh, 
Bays  the  Doctor,  on  the  approach  of  Tobias,  "  yea,  upon  the 
repetition  of  the  experiment,  it  still  happened  so,"  albeit  he 
had  been  deceased  and  interred  fora  considerable  while  before. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  159 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Pi eparations  for  war  between  Philip  and  the  Colonies — -Great 
excitement  of  the  times — Deposition  of  Hugh  Cole — Imme 
diate  occasion  of  hostilities — Commencement  of  them,  June 
24th,  1675 — Summary  sketch  of  the  war — Consequences  to 
the  parties  engaged — Exertions,  adventures  and  escapes  of 
King  Philip — His  death — Anecdotes  respecting  him — Ob 
servations  on  his  character — His  courage,  dignity,  kindness, 
independence,  shrewdness,  and  self-command — Fate  of  hi» 
family — Defence  of  his  conduct. 

WHATEVER  had  previously  been  the  disposition  or 
determination  of  Philip,  it  is  universally  agreed,  that 
subsequent  to  the  transaction  mentioned  at  the  close 
of  the  last  chapter,  he  took  but  little  pains  either  to 
conceal  his  own  hostility  or  to  check  that  of  his  sub 
jects.  It  would  be  incredible  that  he  should.  He 
well  remembered  what  had  happened  to  his  brother 
in  much  more  peaceable  times  ;  and,  as  several  his 
torians  intimate,  he  must  actually  have  apprehended 
'  the  danger  his  own  head  was  in  next.'  A  passage  in 
one  of  his  letters  heretofore  cited,  is  to  the  same  pur 
pose — "  as  also  suggestions  of  great  danger  in  case 
they  [his  subjects]  there  [at  Plymouth]  appear  ;  with 
harsh  threats  to  the  sachem,  that  may  be  considered." 

Every  preparation  was  now  made  for  the  impend 
ing  crisis  on  either  side.  The  following  ancient 
document,  taken  from  the  records  of  Plymouth, 
shows  that  the  agitation  of  all  the  parties  concerned 
had  already  arrived  to  a  high  pitch.  It  is  the  deposi 
tion  of  one  Hugh  Cole,  taken  in  court  previous  to 
Sassamon's  death,  and  attested  by  Nathaniel  Morton 
as  secretary  :* 

"  Hugh  Cole,  aged  forty-three,  or  thereabouts,  be 
ing  deposed,  saith  ; — That  in  February  last  past  be 
fore  the  date  hereof,  he  went  to  Shewarnett,  and 

*Vide  6th.  Vol.  Man.  His.  Coll.  1st  Series 


160  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

two  Englishmen  more  with  him :  and  that  then 
business  was  to  persuade  the  Indians  to  go  to  Plymouth, 
to  answer  a  complaint  made  by  Hezekiah  Luther 
The  Indians  (saith  he)  seeing  us,  came  out  of  the 
house  towards  us,  being  many  of  them,  at  the  least 
twenty  or  thirty,  with  staves  in  their  hand  ;  and 
when  the  Indians  saw  there  were  but  three  of  us, 
they  laid  down  their  staves  again.  Then  we  asked 
the  Indians  what  they  did  with  those  staves  in  their 
hands  ?  They  answered,  that  they  looked  for  Eng 
lishmen  to  come  from  Plymouth,  to  seek  Indians,  to 
carry  them  to  Plymouth.  But  they  said  they  were 
not  willing  to  go.  And  some  time  after,  in  the  same 
morning,  Philip,  the  chief  sachem,  sent  for  me  to 
come  to  him  ;  and  I  went  to  Mount  Hope  to  him  ; 
and  when  I  came  to  Mount  Hope,  I  saw  most  of 
the  Indians  that  I  knew  of  Shewamett  Indians,  there 
at  Mount  Hope,  and  they  were  generally  employed 
in  making  of  bows  and  arrow's,  and  half  pikes,  and 
fixing  up  of  guns.  And  I  saw  many  Indians  of 
several  places  repair  towards  Mount  Hope.  And 
some  days  after  I  came  from  Mount  Hope,  I,  with 
several  others,  saw  one  of  Captain  Willett's  rangers, 
coming  on  post  on  horseback,  who  told  us,  that  king 
Philip  was  marched  up  the  neck  with  about  three 
score  men  ;  and  Zacary  Eddy,  on  his  report,  went  to 
see  if  he  could  find  them  ;  and  he  found  them  towards 
the  upper  part  of  the  neck,  in  several  companies. 
One  Caleb  Eddy  further  saith,  that  he  saw  many 
there  in  arms  ;  and  I  was  informed  by  John  Padduck, 
that  he  saw  two  several  guns,  loaded  with  bullets  or 
slugs.  And  I  further  testify,  that  those  Indians  that 
I  saw  come  towards  Mount  Hope,  as  aforesaid,  came 
better  armed  than  I  usually  have  seen  them.  Further 
saith  not." 

The  Pokanokets  mustered  at  Mount  Hope,  early 
in  the  spring  of  1675,  from  all  quarters,  and  the 
whole  country  was  in  agitation.  The  ungovernable 
ftiry  of  some  of  these  fierce  warriors  was  the  imme 
diate  occasion  of  the  war  which  ensued.  They  had 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  161 

riot  the  power  which  Philip  himself  had,  of  enduring 
provocation  with  the  reservation  of  revenge  ;  and 
they  were  by  no  means  so  well  aware,  on  the  other 
hand,  of  the  advantages  to  he  gained  by  such  a 
course.  At  length,  a  party  of  them  expressed  their 
feelings  so  intolerably — soon  after  the  execution  of 
their  three  countrymen — that  an  Englishman  at 
Swan/ey  discharged  his  musket  at  one  of  them,  and 
wounded  him.  This  afTuir  took  place  June  24,  1675, 
a  day  memorable  in  American  history  as  the  com 
mencement  of  PHILIP'S  WAR.  "Now,"  says  a 
reverend  historian  of  those  times,  "war  was  begun 
by  a  fierce  nation  of  Indians  upon  an  honest,  harm 
less  Christian  generation  of  English,  who  might 
very  truly  have  said  unto  the  aggressors,  as  it  was 
said  of  old  unto  the  Ammonites,  '/  have  not  sinned 
against  thee,  but  thou  iloest  me  wrong  to  war  against 
m«.' "  Such  no  doubt  was  the  persuasion  of  a  large 
majority  of  the  cotemporary  countrymen  of  the 
learned  divine. 

Hostilities  were  now  promptly  undertaken.  A 
letter  was  sent  to  Philip,  in  the  month  of  June,  which, 
of  course,  did  no  good  ;  applications  were  also  made 
to  the  Massachusetts  Government  for  immediate 
assistance  ;  forces  were  raised  and  stationed  through 
out  the  Colony  ;  and  matters  very  soon  after  pro 
ceeded  to  a  length  which  made  compromise  or 
conciliation  impossible.  We  do  not  intend  to  give 
for  the  present  the  well-known  particulars  of  this 
celebrated  war.  It  is  sufficient  to  observe,  that  it 
was  carried  on  for  more  than  a  year  with  a  violence, 
and  amid  an  excitement  unparalleled,  perhaps,  in 
the  history  of  the  country ;  and  that  it  terminated 
with  the  death  of  Philip,  late  in  the  season  of  1676. 

The  result  of  it  was  decisive,  as  the  sachem  \vas 
well  aware  that  it  would  be,  of  the  fate  of  the  New 
England  Indians.  The  Pokariokets  were  nearly 
exterminated.  The  Narraghansetts  lost  about  one 
thousand  of  their  number  in  the  celebrated  swamp- 
fight  at  Sunke-Squaw.  All  the  Indians  on  the 
10—11 


162  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

Connecticut  rher,  and  most  of  the  Nipmucks  wh: 
survived,  fled  to  Canada,  (where  they  were  subse 
quently  of  great  service  to  the  French)  and  a  few 
hundreds  took  refuge  in  New  York.  The  English 
detachment  of  Captain  Church  alone,  are  estimated 
to  have  killed  about  seven  hundred  between  Juno 
and  October  of  1676.  Large  numbers  of  those  who 
were  captured  were  sent  out  of  the  country,  and  sold 
as  slaves. 

But  the  triumph  of  the  conqueror  was  dearly 
bought.  The  whole  fighting  force  of  the  four  Colo 
nies  seems  to  have  been  almost  constantly  in  requi 
sition.  Between  one  and  two  thousand  men  were 
engaged  at  the  swamp-fight  alone, — an  immense 
force  for  a  population  of  scarcely  forty  thousand 
English  throughout  New  England.  Thirteen  towns 
were  entirely  destroyed  by  the  enemy  ;  six  hundred 
dwelling-houses  burned  ;  and  about  the  same  number 
of  Englishmen  killed,  so  that  almost  every  family 
lost  a  relative.  The  mere  expense  of  the  war  must 
have  been  very  great ;  for  the  Commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies  afterwards  estimated  the  disburse 
ments  of  the  Old  Colony  alone,  at  more  than  one 
hundred  thousand  pounds. 

Such  was  the  war  of  King  Philip — sustained  and 
managed,  upon  his  side,  by  his  own  single-handed 
energy  and  talent  alone.  Not  that  the  sixty  Wam- 
panoags  of  the  sachem's  own  house-hold,  as  it  were, 
or  even  the  various  tribes  of  the  Pokanoket  country, 
were  his  sole  supporters;  but  that  all  the  other  tribes, 
which  supported  him,  did  it  in  consequence  of  his 
influence,  and  were  induced  to  unite  and  operate 
together,  as  they  never  had  done  before,  under  his 
control.  Some  writers  have  asserted,  that  he  en 
gaged  the  various  Atlantic  tribes  as  far  south  as 
Virginia  to  assist  him  ;  but  of  this  there  is  no  proof, 
and  it  is  rendered  improbable  by  the  great  want  of 
inter-communication  among  these  tribes. 

Nor  is  it  true,  as  other  writers  have  stated,  that 
all  the  natives  of  New  England  itself  were  involved 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  163 

with  Philip.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  the  most 
trying  circumstance  of  the  great  struggle  of  the 
sachem,  that  he  had  not  only  to  rely  upon  bringing 
and  keeping  together  scores  of  petty  cantons,  as 
jealous  of  each  other  from  time  immemorial  as  so 
many  Highland  clans;  but  he  had  to  watch  and 
resist,  openly  and  secretly,  all  who  would  not  join 
him.  besides  the  multitudes  who  deserted,  betrayed 
and  opposed  him.  The  New  Hampshire  tribes 
mostly  withdrew  from  the  contest.  The  praying 
Indians,  of  whom  there  were  then  thousands,  either 
remained  neutral,  or  like  Sassamon  turned  against 
their  own  race.  One  of  Philip's  own  tribes  forsook 
him  in  his  misfortunes;  and  the  Pequots  and  Mohe- 
gans  of  Connecticut  kept  the  field  against  him  from 
the  very  first  day  of  the  war  to  the  last.  It  may  be 
supposed,  that  some  of  these  tribes  were  surprised, 
as  Philip  himself  was,  by  the  sudden  breaking  out 
of  the  war,  a  year  before  the  time  which  had  been 
fixed  for  it.  This  was  occasioned  by  the  proceedings 
in  which  Sassamon  was  concerned,  and  by  the  un 
governable  fury  of  a  few  of  the  young  warriors. 

Philip  is  said  to  have  wept  at  these  tidings  of  the 
first  outrage  of  the  war.  He  relented,  perhaps, 
savage  as  he  was,  at  the  idea  of  disturbing  the  long 
amity  which  his  father  had  preserved ;  but  he  may 
well  have  regretted,  certainly,  that  being  once  forced 
upon  the  measure,  he  should  enter  the  battle-field 
unprepared  for  what  he  well  knew  must  be  the  last,  as 
U  was  the  first,  great  contest  between  the  red  men  and 
the  whites.  But  the  die  was  cast,  and  though  PhiJip 
never  smiled  after  that  memorable  hour  just  alluded 
to,  his  whole  soul  was  bent  upon  the  business  before 
him.  Day  nor  night,  scarcely  was  there  rest  for  his 
limbs  or  sleep  for  his  eyes.  His  resources  must 
have  been  feeble  enough,  had  his  plans,  now  em 
barrassed,  succeeded  to  his  utmost  wish;  but  he 
girded  himself,  as  it  was,  witli  a  proud  heart  for  the 
mortal  struggle.  The  strength  of  his  own  domin 
ions  was  about  six  hundred  warriors,  ready,  and 


164  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

more  than  ready,  long  since,  for  the  war-cry.  The 
whole  force  of  his  old  enemies,  the  Narraghansetts, 
was  already  engaged  to  him.  He  had  negotiated, 
also,  with  the  Nipmucks  and  the  tribes  on  the  Con 
necticut  and  farther  west,  and  one  after  another,  these 
were  soon  induced  to  join  him.  Nor  was  it  six 
weeks  from  the  first  hostilities,  before  all  the  Indians 
along  the  coast  of  Maine,  for  a  distance  of  two  hun 
dred  miles,  were  eagerly  engaged,  in  what  Philip 
told  them  was  the  common  cause  of  the  race. 

That  no  arts  might  be  left  untried,  even  while  the 
court  were  condemning  his  three  subjects,  he  was 
holding  a  grand  war-dance  at  Sowams,  and  muster 
ing  his  tawny  warriors  around  him  from  all  quarters. 
Several  tribes  afterwards  confessed  to  the  English, 
that  Philip  had  thus  inveigled  them  into  the  war 
And  again,  no  sooner  were  his  forces  driven  bark  upon 
the  Connecticut  river  tribes,  about  the  first  of  Septem 
ber,  1675,  than  he  enlisted  new  allies  among  them. 
The  Hadley  Indians,  who  had  joined  the  English, 
— very  likely  at  his  instigation, — were  suspected, 
and  fled  to  him.  Their  Springfield  neighbors,  soon 
after,  joined  three  hundred  of  Philip's  men,  in  an 
attack  upon  that  town  ;  and  thus  the  whole  Nipmuck 
country  was  involved.  In  the  course  of  the  ensuing 
winter,  the  sachem  is  said  to  have  visited  the  Mo 
hawks  in  New  York.  Not  succeeding  in  gaining 
their  alliance  by  fair  argument,  he  was  desperate 
enough  to  kill  some  of  their  straggling  young  men  in 
the  woods,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  blame  would 
obviously  be  charged  upon  the  English.  But  this 
stratagem  was  defeated,  by  the  escape  of  one  who 
had  only  been  stunned  by  the  sachem.  The  lattei 
was  obliged  to  take  abrupt  leave  of  his  hosts;  and 
from  that  time,  they  were  among  his  worst  enemies 

His  situation  during  the  last  tew  months  of  the  war, 
was  so  deplorable,  and  yet  his  exertions  so  well  sus 
tained,  that  we  can  only  look  upon  him  with  pity  and 
admiration.  His  successes  for  some  time  past  had 
been  tremendous;  but  the  tide  began  to  ebb  The 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  165 

whole  power  of  the  Colonies  was  in  the  field, 
aided  by  gujde?  and  scouting-parties  of  his  own  race. 
The  Saconeta;  the  subjects  of  a  near  relation  of  bis 
own,  enlisted  under  Church.  Other  tribes  complain 
ed  and  threatened.  Their  territory,  as  well  as  his, 
had  been  over-run,  their  settlements  destroyed,  and 
their  planting  and  fishing-grounds  all  occupied  by  the 
English.  Those  of  them  who  were  not  yet  hunted 
down,  were  day  and  night  followed  into  swarnps  and 
forests,  and  reduced  to  live, — if  they  did  not  actually 
starve  or  freeze, — upon  the  least  and  worst  food  to 
be  conceived  of.  Hundreds  died  of  diseases  incur 
red  in  this  manner.  "  I  have  eaten  horse,"  said  one 
of  these  miserable  wretches,  "but  now  horse  is 
eating  me."  Another  informed  Church,  on  one 
occasion,  that  about  three  hundred  Indians  had  gone 
a  long  way  to  Swanzey,  in  the  heat  of  the  war,  for 
the  purpose  of  eating  clams,  and  that  Philip  was 
goon  to  follow  them.  At  another  time,  the  valiant 
captain  himself  captured  a  large  party.  Finding 
it  convenient  to  attack  a  second  directly  after,  he 
bade  the  first  wait  for  him,  and  join  him  at  a  certain 
rendezvous.  The  day  after  the  skirmish,  "  they  came 
io  him  as  they  were  ordered,"  and  he  drove  them 
all  together,  that  very  night,  into  Bridgewater  pound, 
and  set  his  Saconet  soldiers  to  guard  them.  "Be 
ing  well  treated  with  victuals  and  drink,"  he  adds, 
with  great  simplicity,  "they  had  a  merry  night, 
and  the  prisoners  laughed  as  loud  as  the  soldiers ; 
not  being  so  treated  for  a  long  time  before." 

The  mere  physical  sufferings  of  Philip,  meanwhile, 
are  almost  incredible.  It  is  by  his  hair-breadth 
escapes,  indeed,  that  he  is  chiefly  visible  during  the 
war.  Occasionally,  the  English  come  close  upon 
h"'m  ;  he  starts  up,  like  the  roused  lion,  plunges  into 
the  river  or  leaps  the  precipice  ;  and  nothing  more 
is  seen  of  him  for  months.  Only  a  few  weeks  after 
the  war  commenced,  he  was  surrounded  in  the  great 
Porasset  swamp,  and  obliged  to  escape  from  his 
vigilant  enemies  by  rafting  himself,  with  his  best 


J66  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

men,  over  the  great  Taunton  river,  while  their 
women  and  children  were  left  to  be  captured.  On 
his  return  to  the  same  neighborhood,  the  next  sea 
son,  a  captive  guided  the  English  to  his  encampment. 
Philip  fled  in  such  haste  as  to  leave  his  kettle  jpon 
the  fire ;  twenty  of  his  comrades  were  overtaken  and 
killed ;  and  he  himself  escaped  to  the  swamp,  pre 
cisely  as  he  had  formerly  escaped  from  it.  Here  his 
uncle  was  shot  soon  afterwards  at  his  side.  Upon 
the  next  day,  Church,  discovering  an  Indian  seated 
on  a  fallen  tree,  made  to  answer  the  purpose  of  a 
bridge  over  the  river,  raised  his  musket  and  delibe 
rately  aimed  at  him.  "  It  is  one  of  our  own  party,*1' 
whispered  a  savage,  who  crept  behind  him.  Church 
lowered  his  gun,  and  the  stranger  turned  his  head. 
It  was  Philip  himself,  musing,  perhaps,  upon  the 
fate  which  awaited  him.  Church  fired,  but  his  royal 
enemy  had  already  fled  down  the  bank.  He  escaped 
from  a  close  and  bloody  skirmish  a  few  hours  after 
wards. 

He  was  now  a  desolate  and  desperate  man,  the 
last  prince  of  an  ancient  race,  without  subjects, 
without  territory,  accused  by  his  allies,  betrayed  by 
his  comrades,  hunted  like  a  spent  deer  by  blood 
hounds,  in  daily  hazard  of  famishing,  and  with  no 
shelter  day  or  night  for  his  head.  All  his  chief 
counsellors  and  best  friends  had  been  killed.  His 
brother  was  slain  in  the  Pocasset  swamp ;  his  uncle 
was  shot  down  at  his  own  side ;  and  his  wife  and 
only  son  were  captured  when  he  himself  so  narrowly 
escaped  from  the  fire  of  Church.  And  could  he  have 
fled  for  the  last  time  from  the  soil  of  his  own  country, 
he  would  still  have  found  no  rest  or  refuge.  He  had 
betaken  himself  once  to  a  place  between  York  and 
Albany ;  but  even  here,  as  Church  says,  the  Moohags 
made  a  descent  upon  him  and  killed  many  of  his 
men.  His  next  kennelling-place*  was  at  the  fall  of 

*  The  language  of  Church.  The  same  name  might  be  as 
properly  applied,  we  suppose,  to  a  curious  cave  in  the  vicinity 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  167 

Connecticut  river,  above  Deerfield,  where,  some 
iime  after,  "  Captain  Turner  found  him,  came  upon 
him  hy  night,  killed  a  great  many  men, and  frighten 
ed  many  more  into  the  river,  that  were  hunted  down 
the  falls  and  drowned:"  He  lost  three  hundred 
men  at  this  time.  They  were  in  their  encampments, 
asleep  and  unguarded.  The  English  rushed  upon 
them,  and  they  fled  in  every  direction,  half-awaken 
ed,  and  crying  out,  "Mohawks  !  Mohawks  !  " 

We  cannot  better  illustrate  Philip's  character,  than 
by  observing,  that  within  a  few  days  of  this  affair, 
he  was  collecting  the  remnants  of  the  Narraghan- 
setts  and  Nipmucks  among  the  Wachuset  hills,  on 
the  east  side  of  the  river ;  that  they  then  made  a 
descent  upon  Sudbury  ;  "met  with  and  swallowed  up 
the  valiant  Captain  Wadsworth  and  his  company  ;*  and 
many  other  doleful  desolations  in  those  parts."  We 
also  find,  that  Philip  was  setting  parties  to  waylay 
Church,  under  his  own  worst  circumstances ;  and 
that  he  came  very  near  succeeding.  He  is  thought 
to  have  been  at  the  great  swamp-fight  in  December, 
1675 ;  and  to  have  led  one  thousand  Indians  against 
Lancaster  on  the  ensuing  8th  of  February.  In 
August  of  the  former  season,  he  made  his  appear 
ance  among  the  Nipmucks,  in  a  swamp  ten  or  twelve 
miles  from  Brookfield.  "They  told  him  at  his  first 
coming,"  said  one  of  them  who  was  taken  captive, 

of  Winnecunnett  pond,  in  Norton  (Mass.)  In  the  midst  of  a 
cluster  of  large  rocks,  it  is  formed  by  the  projection  of  one 
over  another  which  meets  it  with  an  acute  angle.  It  is  five 
feet  high,  and  the  area  at  the  base  is  seventeen  feet  by  nine. 
Tradition  represents  it  as  one  of  the  Sachem's  secret  retreats, 
and  it  bears  the  name  of  '  Philip's-Cave'  to  this  day. 

*This  strong  expression  of  the  Captain's  may  refer  to  the 
really  savage  treatment  which  the  unfortunate  prisoners  met 
with  in  this  case.  We  have  it  on  the  authority  of  Mather,  at 
least,  that  those  "  devils  incarnate  "  inflicted  a  variety  of  tor 
tures  not  necessary  to  be  enlarged  upon  here ;  "  and  so  with 
exquisite,  leisurely,  horrible  torments,  roasted  them  out  of  the 
world."  History  of  New  England,  Book  VII.  p.  55. 
London  Ed.  1702. 


i68  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

"what  tney  had  done  to  the  English  at  Brookfield 
[burning  the  town.]  "Then  he  presented  and  gavt 
to  three  sagamores,  namely,  John  alias  Apequinast, 
Quanansit,  and  Mawtamps,  to  each  of  them  about  a 
peck  of  unstrung  wampum"*  Even  so  late  as  the 
month  before  the  sachem's  death,  a  negro,  who  had 
fought  under  him,  informed  the  English  of  his 
design  of  attacking  certain  towns,  being  still  able  to 
muster  something  like  a  thousand  men.  In  his  last 
and  worst  days,  he  would  not  think  of  peace ;  and 
he  killed  with  his  own  hand,  upon  the  spot,  the  only 
Indian  who  ever  dared  to  propose  it.  It  was  the 
brother  of  this  man  by  whom  he  was  himself  soon 
after  slain. 

These  are  clear  proofs,  then,  that  Philip  possessed 
a  courage  as  noble  as  his  intellect.  Nor  is  there  any 
doubt  that  history  would  have  furnished  a  long  list 
of  his  personal  exploits,  but  that  his  situation  com 
pelled  him  to  disguise  as  well  as  conceal  himself. 
If  any  thing  but  his  face  had  been  known,  there  was 
nothing  to  prevent  Church  from  shooting  him,  as  we 
have  seen.  And  universally  influential  as  he  was, 
— the  master-spirit  every  where  guiding,  encourag 
ing,  soothing  and  rewarding, — it  is  a  fact  worthy  of 
mention,  that  from  the  time  of  his  first  flight  from 
Pocasset  until  a  few  weeks  before  his  death,  no 
Englishman  could  say,  that  he  had  either  seen  his 
countenance  or  heard  his  voice.  Hence  Church 
describes  him  as  being  always  foremost  in  the  flight. 
The  price  put  upon  his  head,  the  fearful  power 
which  pursued  him,  the  circumstance  that  some  of 
his  own  acquaintance  were  against  him,  arid  espe 
cially  the  vital  importance  of  his  life  to  his  cause, 
all  made  it  indispensable  for  him  to  adopt  every 
stratagem  of  the  wary  and  cunning,  warfare  of  his 
race. 


*  Note  to  Hutchinson's  History  of  Massachusetts.  Mathei 
says,  that  these  very  Indians  had  covenanted  by  a  formal  treaty 
a  month  before,  that  they  would  not  assist  Philip 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  169 

We  have  said  something  of  Philip's  ideas  of  his 
own  sovereign  dignity.  Hence  the  fate  of  Sassamon, 
and  of  the  savage  who  proposed  peace.  There  is  a 
well  settled  tradition,  that  in  ]6G5  he  went  over  to  the 
island  of  Nantucket,  with  the  view  of  killing  an  In 
dian  called  John  Gibbs.*  He  landed  on  the  west 
end,  intending  to  travel  along  the  shore,  undiscover 
ed,  under  the  bank,  to  that  part  of  the  island  where 
Gibbs  resided.  By  some  lucky  accident,  the  latter 
received  a  hint  of  his  approach,  made  his  escape  to 
the  English  settlement,  and  induced  one  Mr.  Macy 
to  conceal  him.  His  crime  consisted  in  speaking  the 
name  of  some  deceased  relative  of  Philip  (his  brother, 
perhaps,)  contrary  to  Indian  etiquette  in  such  cases 
provided.  The  English  held  a  parley  with  the 
sachem,  and  all  the  money  they  were  able  to  collect 
was  barely  sufficient  to  satisfy  him  for  the  life  of  the 
culprit.  It  was  not  a  mere  personal  insult,  but  a 
violation  of  the  reverence  due  from  a  subject  to  his 
king. 

It  appears,  that  when  he  visited  Boston,  before 
the  war,  he  succeeded  in  persuading  the  govern 
ment, — as,  no  doubt,  was  the  truth  of  the  case, — that 
notwithstanding  the  old  league  of  his  father,  renewed 
by  himself)  or  rather  by  force  of  it,  he  was  still  inde 
pendent  of  Plymouth.  "  These  successive  engage 
merits  were  agreements  of  amity,  and  not  of  subject 
tion  any  further,  as  he  apprehended."  He  then 
desired  to  see  a  copy  of  the  treaty,  and  requested 
that  one  might  be  procured  for  him.  He  knew,  he 
added,  that  the  praying  Indians  had  submitted  to  the 
English  ;  but  the  Pokanokets  had  done  no  suet 
thing,  and  they  were  not  subject.  The  letter  of  the 
Massachusetts  to  the  Plymouth  Government,  written 
just  after  this  interview  with  the  sachem,  is  well 
worthy  of  notice.  "  We  do  not  understand,"  say  the 
former,  "  how  far  he  hath  subjected  himself  to  you  ; 

*  The  fact,  as  to  the  visit  itself,  is  authenticated  by  the  txtant 
records  of  Nantucket. 

T— 0 


170  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

but  the  treatment  you  have  given  him,  does  not  reii 
der  him  such  a  subject,  as  that,  if  there  be  not  present 
answering  to  summons,  there  should  presently  be  a 
proceeding  to  hostilities." 

Philip  had  himself  the  same  notion  of  a  Plymouth 
summons;  and  yet  either  policy  or  good  feeling  in 
duced  him  to  visit  the  Plymouth  Governor,  in 
March,  1675,  for  the  purpose  of  quieting  the  suspi 
cions  of  the  Colony  :  nothing  was  discovered  against 
him,  and  he  returned  home.  He  maintained  privately 
the  same  frank  but  proud  independence.  He  was 
opposed  to  Christianity  as  much  as  his  father  was, 
and  would  make  no  concessions  upon  that  point. 
Possibly  the  remembrance  of  Sassainon  might  have 
rankled  in  his  bosom,  when,  upon  the  venerable  Eliot 
once  undertaking  to  convert  him,  he  took  one  of  his 
buttons  between  his  fingers,  and  told  him  he  cared 
no  more  for  the  Gospel  "than  for  that  button.  That 
he  was  generally  more  civil,  however,  may  be  infer 
red  from  Gookin's  statement ;  "  I  have  heard  him 
speak  very  good  words,  arguing  that  his  conscience 
is  convicted,  &c."  The  sachem  evidently  made  him 
self  agreeable  in  this  case. 

In  regard  to  his  personal  appearance,  always  a 
matter  of  curiosity  in  the  case  of  great  men,  sketches 
purporting  to  be  portraits  of  him  are  extant,  but  none 
of  them  are  believed  to  have  more  verisimilitude 
than  the  grotesque  charicature  prefixed  to  the  old 
narrative  of  Captain  Church  (the  model  of  the 
series) ;  and  we  must  therefore  content  ourselves  to 
remain  ignorant  in  this  matter.  As  to  his  costume, 
Josselyn,  who  saw  him  at  Boston,  says  that  he  had  a 
coat  on,  arid  buskins  set  thick  with  beads,  "  in  pleas 
ant  wild  works,  and  a  broad  belt  of  the  same  ;"  hia 
accoutrements  being  valued  at  £20.  A  family  in 
Swanzey,  (Mass.),  is  understood  to  be  still  in  posses- 
session  of  some  of  the  royalties  which  were  given 
up  by  ANAWOJV,  at  the  time  of  his  capture  by  Church.* 

*Anawon  is  said  to  have  been  Philip's  chief  counsellor  and 
captain  during  the  war;  and  also  to  have  fought  under  Massa 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  171 

There  were  two  horns  of  glazed  powder,  a  red-cloth 
blanket,  and  three  richly  and  beautifully  wrought 
wampum  belts.  One  was  nine  inches  wide,  arid  so 
long  as  to  extend  from  the  shoulder  to  the  ancles. 
To  the  second,  which  was  worn  on  the  head,  were 
attached  two  ornamented  small  flags.  The  third  and 
smallest  had  a  star  figured  in  beads  upon  one  end, 
which  came  over  the  bosom. 

Philip  was  far  from  being  a  mere  barbarian  in  his 
manners  and  feelings.  There  is  not  an  instance  tc 
be  met  with,  of  his  having  maltreated  a  captive  ir 
any  way,  even  while  the  English  were  selling  h" 
own  people  as  slaves  abroad,  or  torturing  and  hang 
ing  them  at  home.  The  famous  Mrs.  Rowlandsoi 
speaks  of  meeting  with  him  during  her  doleful  cap 
tivity.  He  invited  her  to  call  at  his  lodge  ;  and  whei 
she  did  so,  bade  her  sit  down,  and  asked  her  if  she 
would  smoke.  On  meeting  her  again,  he  requested 
her  to  make  some  garment  for  his  child,  and  for  this 
he  paid  her  a  shilling.  He  afterwards  took  the  trou 
ble  of  visiting  her  for  the  purpose  of  assuring  her, 
that  "  in  a  fortnight  she  should  be  her  own  mistress." 
Her  last  interview,  it  must  be  allowed,  shows  hia 
shrewdness  to  rather  more  advantage  than  his  fair 
dealing.  It  was  Indian  stratagem  in  war-time,  how- 

soit.  But  the  latter  was  not  a  very  belligerent  character ;  noi 
do  we  find  mention  of  Anawou's  services  under  Philip, 
previous  to  the  time  of  his  fall  at  the  swamp-skirmish,  when 
the  counsellor  made  his  escape.  Ilubbard  states  that  he  boasted 
of  having  killed  ten  whites  in  one  day;  but  nearly  all  that  is 
known  uf  him  we  derive  from  the  picturesque  account  of  his 
capture  by  Church,  who  headed  an  expedition  for  the  express 
purpose.  Ana  won  met  his  misfortune,  and  even  entertained  his 
conqueror,  most  manfully  on  that  occasion ;  and  Church  recip 
rocated  his  courtesies;  but  all  in  vain — the  old  warrior,  with 
many  others  of  his  tribe,  was  soon  after  beheaded  at  Plymouth 
To  the  traveller  from  Taunton  to  Providence,  through  th« 
south-east  corner  of  Rehoboth,  Anawon's  rock  is  pointed  out 
to  this  day — an  enormous  pile,  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  fe«M 
high,  on  a  sort  of  island  in  a  s\\amp  of  some  thousand  acres. 


172  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

ever ;  and  the  half-clad  sachem  was  at  this  verj 
time  living  upon  ground-nuts,  acorns  and  lily-roots. 
"  Philip,  smelling  the  business,  [her  ransom,]  call 
ed  me  to  him,  and  asked  me  what  1  would  give  him 
to  tell  me  some  good  news,  and  to  speak  a  good 
word  for  me,  that  I  might  go  home  to-morrow.  I 
told  him  I  could  not  tell,— but  any  thing  I  had,— and 
asked  him  what  he  would  have.  He  said  two  coats, 
and  twenty  shillings  in  money,  half  a  bushel  of  seed- 
corn,  and  some  tobacco.  /  thanked  him  for  his  love, 
but  I  knew  that  good  news  as  well  as  that  crafty  fox." 
It  is  probable  he  was  amusing  himself  with  this  good 
woman,  much  as  he  did  with  the  worthy  Mr.  Gook- 
iu  ;  but  at  all  events,  there  are  no  traces  of  malevo 
lent  feeling  in  these  simple  anecdotes. 

What  is  more  striking,  we  find  that  when  one 
James  Brown,  of  Swaiizey,  brought  him  a  letter  from 
Plymouth,  just  before  hostilities  commenced,  and  the 
young  warriors  were  upon  the  point  of  killing  him, 
Philip  interfered  and  prevented  it,  saying,  that  "  his 
father  had  charged  him  to  show  kindness  to  Mr. 
Brown."  Accordingly,  it  is  recorded  in  Hubbard, 
that  a  little  before  his  death,  the  old  sachem  had 
visited  Mr.  Brown,  who  lived  not  far  from  Montaup, 
and  earnestly  desired  that  the  love  and  amity  he  had 
received,  might  be  continued  to  the  children.  It 
was  probably  this  circumstance,  which  induced 
Brown  himself,  to  engage  in  such  a  hazardous  enter- 
prize,  after  an  interval,  probably,  of  some  twenty 
years. 

Nor  should  we  pass  over  the  kindness  of  Philip 
to  the  Leonard  family,  who  resided  near  Fowling 
Pond,  in  what  is  now  Raynham.  Philip,  who  win 
tered  at  Montaup, — for  the  convenience  of  fishing 
perhaps, — was  accustomed  to  spend  the  summer  at 
a  hunting-house,  by  this  pond.  There  he  became 
intimate  with  the  Leonards,  traded  with  them,  and 
had  his  arms  repaired  by  them  frequently.  On  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war,  he  gave  strict  orders  that 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHV.  173 

mese  men  should  never  he  hurt,  as  they  never  were  ;* 
and,  indeed,  the  whole  town  of  Taunton* — as  it  then 
was, — remained  almost  entirely  unmolested  through 
out  the  war,  and  amid  all  the  ravages  and  massacres 
which  daily  took  place  upon  its  very  borders.  How 
much  of  provocation  and  humiliation  he  was  himself 
enduring  meanwhile,  we  have  already  seen.  All  his 
relations  were  killed  or  captured,  and  a  price  set 
upon  his  own  life. 

It  is  a  matter  of  melancholy  interest  to  know,  that 
the  sachem,  wretched  and  hopeless  as  he  had  become 
in  his  last  days,  was  still  surrounded  by  a  band  of 
his  faithful  and  affectionate  followers.  At  the  very 
moment  of  his  fatal  surprise  by  the  English,  he  is 
said  to  have  been  telling  them  of  his  gloomy  dreams,f 


*  A  forge  is  still  in  operation  upon  the  site  of  the  one  here 
mentioned.  The  original  LEONARD  HOUSE,  where  tradition 
says  that  Philip's  head  was  deposited  for  some  time,  is  repre 
sented  in  the  Vignette  prefixed  to  this  volume.  It  is  still 
occupied  by  one  of  the  family,  of  the  sixth  generation  from  the 
builder,  and,  so  far  as  we  are  informed,  is  the  oldest  mansion 
now  standing  in  this  country.  The  vane,  at  one  of  the  gable- 
ends  is  inscribed  with  the  date  1700;  but  there  is  little  doubt  ot 
the  house  having  been  erected  at  least  thirty  years  previous. 
The  workmanship,  especially  within,  is  remarkably  massive  and 
sound.  It  is  apparently  modelled  after  an  English  fashion  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  with  some  modifications  proper  for  defence 
Hgainst  the  Indians.  It  was  garrisoned  during  the  war. — The 
Fowling  Pond,  still  so  called,  has  become  a  thick  swamp. 
An  aged  gentleman  was  living  not  many  years  since,  who  in 
boyhood  had  frequently  gone  oft'  in  a  canoe,  to  catch  fish  in  its 
waters.  Indian  weapons  and  utensils  are  still  found  on  its 
borders. 

t  The  violent  prejudice  existing  against  Philip,  unmitigated 
even  by  his  sufferings  and  death,  appears  singularly  in  a  pa 
renthetical  surmise  ofHubbard,  "whether  the  devil  appeared 
to  him  that  night  in  a  dream,  foreboding  his  tragical  end,  it 
matters  not.''''  So  Mather  says,  he  was  hung  up  like  Aha^, 
after  being  c-hot  through  his  "  venomous  and  murderous  heart  " 
Church,  generally  an  honorable  and  humane  man,  speaks  of 
his  fallen  foe,  in  terms  which  we  regaidhis  reputation  toe 
much  to  tepeat. 


174  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

and  advising  them  to  desert  him  and  provide  for  then 
own  safety.  A  few  minutes  after  this,  lie  was  shot 
in  attempting  to  escape  from  the  swamp.  An  Eng- 
glishman, — one  Cook, — aimed  at  him,  but  his  gun 
missed  fire  ;  the  Indian  who  was  stationed  to  watch 
at  the  same  place,  discharged  his  musket,  and  shot 
him  through  the  heart.  The  news  of  this  success 
was  of  course  received  with  great  satisfaction ; 
Church  says,  that  "the  whole  army  gave  three  loud 
huzzas."  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  honest  captain 
suffered  his  prejudices  to  carry  him  so  far,  that  he 
denied  the  rites  of  burial  to  his  great  enemy.  He  had 
him  quartered,  on  the  contrary,  and  his  head  carried 
to  Plymouth,  where,  as  Mather  is  careful  to  tell  us,  it 
arrived  on  the  very  day  when  the  church  there  were 
keeping  a  solemn  thanksgiving.  The  conqueror's 
temper  was  soured  by  the  illiberality  of  the  Govern 
ment  toward  himself.  For  this  march  he  received 
but  four  and  sixpence  a  man,  together  with  thirty 
shillings  a  head  for  the  killed.  He  observes  that 
Philip's  head  went  at  the  same  price,  and  he  thought 
it  a  "  scanty  reward  and  poor  encouragement."  The 
sachem's  head  was  carried  about  the  Colony  in 
triumph  ;  *  and  the  Indian  who  killed  him  was  re 
warded  with  one  of  his  hands.  To  finish  the  wretch 
ed  detail,  several  of  his  principal  royalties  were 
soon  after  given  up  by  one  of  his  chief  captains ; 
and  the  lock  of  the  gun  which  was  fatal  to  him,  with 
a  samp-dish  found  in  his  wigwam,  are  still  to  be  seen 
among  the  antiquities  of  the  Historical  Society  of 
Massachusetts.  Montaup,  which  became  the  subject 
of  a  dispute  between  the  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth 
Colonies,  was  finally  awarded  to  the  latter  by  a  special 
decision  of  King  Charles. 

Last  and  worst  of  all,  his  only  son,  a  boy  of  nine 

*  It  was  kept  many  years  at  Plymouth,  Dr.  Mather  says  in 
1700.  "  It  is  not  long  since  the  hand  which  now  writes  "upo» 
a  certain  occasion  look  off  the  jaw  from  the  exposed  skull  of 
that  blasphemous  leviathan." 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  175 

years  of  age,  whom  we  have  already  noticed  as 
among  the  English  captives,  was  sold  as  a  slave  and 
shipped  to  Biirmuda.  It  should  be  stated,  however, 
tnat  this  unfortunate  measure  was  not  taken  without 
some  scruples.  The  Plymouth  Court  were  so  much 
perplexed  upon  the  occasion,  as  to  conclude  upon 
applying  to  the  clergymen  of  the  Colony  for  advice. 
Mr.  Cotton  was  of  opinion  that  "the  children  of  no 
torious  traitors,  rebels,  and  murderers,  especially  sucn 
as  have  been  principal  leaders  and  actors  in  such 
norrid  villanies,  might  be  involved  in  the  guilt  of 
their  parents,  and  might,  salva  republica,  be  adjudged 
to  death"  Dr.  Increase  Mather  compared  the  child 
to  Hadad,  whose  father  was  killed  by  Joab  ;  and 
he  intimates,  that  if  Hadad  himself  had  not  escaped, 
David  would  have  taken  measures  to  prevent  fiis 
molesting  the  next  generation.  It  is  gratifying  to 
know,  that  the  course  he  recommended  was  post 
poned,  even  to  the  ignominious  and  mortifying  one 
we  have  mentioned. 

Such  was  the  impression  which  had  been  univer 
sally  forced  upon  the  Colonists  by  the  terrible  spirit 
of  Philip.  And  never  was  a  civilized  or  an  uncivil 
ized  enemy  more  areneraiiv  or  more  justly  feared. 
How  much  greater  his  success  might  have  been,  had 
circumstances  favored,  instead  of  opposing  him,  it  is 
fortunately  impossible  for  us  to  estimate.  It  is  con 
fessed,  however,  that  had  even  the  Narraghansetts 
joined  him  during  the  first  summer  of  the  war, — 
as  nothing  but  the  abrupt  commencement  of  it 
prevented  them  from  doing, — the  whole  country, 
from  the  Piscataqua  to  the  Sound,  must  have  been 
over-swept  and  desolated.  But  as  it  was,  Philip  did 
and  endured  enough  to  immortalize  him  as  a  warrior, 
a  statesman,  and  we  may  add,  as  a  high-minded  and 
noble  patriot.  Whatever  might  be  the  prejudice 
against  him  in  the  days  of  terror  produced  by  his 
prowess,  there  are  both  the  magnanimity  and  the 
calmness  in  these  times,  to  do  him  the  justice  he 


176  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

deserves.  He  fought  and  fell, — miserably,  indeed, 
but  gloriously, — the  avenger  of  his  own  household, 
the  worshipper  of  his  own  gods,  the  guardian  of  his 
own  honor,  a  martyr  for  the  soil  which  was  his 
birth-place,  and  for  the  proud  liberty  which  was  his 
birth -right. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  177 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Fie  Nai  raghansett  tribe;  territory  and  power — Chief  Sa- 
cheais  at  the  date  of  the  English  settlements  in  New  England 
— CANONICUS  associates  with  himself  MIANTONOMO,  his 
nephew — Their  treatment  of  Roger  Williams  in  1634 — 
Hostility  to  the  Plymouth  Colony — Invited  bj  the  Pequots 
to  fight  the  English — Treaty  negotiated  at  Boston,  in  1636, 
by  Miantonoroo — War  with  the  Pequots  and  result  of  it — 
Subsequent  hostility  between  Miantonomo  and  UNCAS — 
SEQ.UASSEN — Battle  of  the  Sachem's-Plain — Capture  of 
Miantonomo — Sentence  of  the  English  commissioners  upon 
him — Execution  of  it. 

NEXT  to  the  Pokanoket  confederacy,  none  has  a 
stronger  claim  on  the  early  notice  of  the  historian, 
than  the  Narraghansett ;  a  nation,  composed  of 
various  small  tribes,  inhabiting  a  large  part  of  the 
territory  which  afterwards  formed  the  colony  of 
Rhode-Island.  Their  dominion  extended  also  over 
the  islands  in  the  bay  of  their  own  name;  and  the 
Sagamores  of  a  part  of  Long-Island,  Block-Island, 
Cawesit,  and  Niantick  were  either  their  tributaries 
or  subject  to  them  in  some  other  way.  They  had 
once  been  able  to  raise  more  than  four  thousand 
warriors;  and  so  late  as  Philip's  time,  we  have  seen 
they  could  muster  two  thousand,  one  half  of  whom 
were  provided  with  English  arms,  and  were  skilful 
in  the  use  of  them.  From  time  immemorial,  they  had 
waged  war  with  both  the  Pokanokets  on  the  North 
and  the  Pequots  on  the  West. 

It  might  be  expected,  that  the  rulers  of  such  a 
confederacy,  thus  situated,  should  be  men  of  talent 
and  energy  ;  and  this  expectation  will  not  be  disap 
pointed.  Throughout  the  history  of  the  New  Eng 
land  Indians,  as  we  find  no  people  more  resolute  in 
declaring  what  they  believed  to  be  their  rights,  or 
more  formidable  in  defending  them,  so  we  find  no 
sachems  more  ready  and  able  than  theirs,  on  all  occa 
sions,  to  sustain  the  high  spirit  of  their  subjects. 
10—12 


178  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

There  is  an  unnecessary  confusion  in  the  informa 
tion  conveyed  by  some  of  our  best  annalists,  respect 
ing  the  particular  personage  who  governed  the  Nar- 
raghansetts  at  the  date  of  the  first  intercourse  between 
them  and  the  English.  Governor  Hutchinson,  for 
example,  speaks  in  one  case  of  CANONICUS  as  being 
their  chief  sachem.  In  another,  alluding  to  the 
death  of  MIANTONOMO,  while  the  former  was  yet 
living,  he  observes,  that  although  they  had  lost  their 
chief  sachem,  yet  they  had  divers  other  stout  ones,  as 
Canonicus,  Pessacus  and  others. 

The  ambiguity  has  arteen  from  the  circumstance, 
that  although  Canonicus  exercised  the  chief  authority 
of  the  country  when  the  English  first  arrived,  he 
soon  after  became  associated  in  the  Government 
with  Miantonomo,  his  nephew.  What  were  the  par 
ticular  conditions  of  the  royal  co-partnership,  or 
what  was  the  occasion  of  it,  cannot  now  be  determin 
ed.  Some  writers  suppose,  that  the  sole  authority 
belonged  to  the  younger  of  the  two,  and  that  the  elder 
acted  in  the  capacity  of  regent ;  but  considering  that 
the  association  continued  during  the  whole  term  of 
the  joint  lives  of  the  two,  it  appears  more  probable, 
that  Canonicus,  finding  himself  far  advanced  in 
years,*  as  well  as  encumbered  with  the  fharge  of  an 
extensive  dominion,  at  the  period  of  the  first  Eng 
lish  settlements,  thought  proper  to  make  such  an 
alteration  in  his  regal  state  as  seemed  to  be  required 
by  the  exigencies  of  the  times.  He  therefore  select 
ed  as  an  associate,  the  most  popular  and  active  prince 
of  his  own  family. 

Mr.  Hutchinson  himself  appears  finally  to  adopt 

*  Roger  Williams  tells  us  in  his  KEY  TO  THE  INDIAN  LAN 
GUAGES,  first  printed  in  1643,  that  he  was  about  fourscore  years 
of  age.  Elsewhere,  it  is  stated,  that  "  Cononicus,  being  the 
eole  governor  or  chief  sachem,  employed  his  nephew  Mianti- 
nomy,  to  mannge  his  warlike  affairs,  as  general  of  his  army, 
and  in  his  declining  years  took  him  as  a  partner  in  hit 
government  for  assistance.  His.  Narr.  Country.  Mam 
His.  Coll 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  179 

the  conclusion  we  have  just  stated.  In  a  part  of  his 
history*  subsequent  to  the  passage  above  cited,  he 
refers  to  information  derived  from  authentic  manu 
scripts,  which  furnished  the  opinion  of  the  Narra 
ghansctts  themselves  upon  the  subject.  The  oldest 
of  that  people  reported,  when  the  English  first  ar 
rived,  that  they  had  in  former  times  a  sachem  called 
TASHTASSACK,  incomparably  superior  to  any  other 
in  the  whole  country  in  dominion  and  state.  This 
chieftain,  said  they,  had  only  two  children,  a  son  and 
a  daughter ;  and  not  being  able  to  match  them  ac 
cording  to  their  dignity,  he  joined  them  together  in 
wedlock.  They  had  four  sons ;  and  of  these,  Cano 
nicus,  "  ivho  was  sachem  when  the  English  came"  was 
the  eldest. 

Mr.  Hutchinson  observes,  that  this  is  the  only 
piece  of  Indian  history,  or  tradition  of  any  sort,  from 
the  ancestors  of  our  first  Indians,  he  had  ever  met 
with.  The  brothers  of  Canonicus  here  referred  to, 
are  occasionally  spoken  of  by  the  old  writers,  but 
not  as  having  signalized  themselves  by  any  thing 
worthy  of  notice. 

The  fact  that  Canonicus  and  his  nephew  adminis 
tered  the  government  in  harmony,  as  well  as  in  union, 
is  shown  most  clearly  by  the  letters  of  Roger  Wil- 
liams.f  It  is  well  known  that,  in  1634,  when  that 
reverend  gentleman  was  compelled  to  leave  the  Mas 
sachusetts  colony,  (on  account  of  his  religious  opin 
ions,)  he  fled  to  Seekonk.  But  that  place  lying 
within  the  limits  of  the  Plymouth  jurisdiction,  and 
the  people  of  that  colony  being  unwilling  to  embroil 
themselves  with  Massachusetts,  Governor  Winslow 
informed  him  of  the  difficulty  which  was  apprehend 
ed,  and  advised  him  to  occupy  a  spot  on  the  other 

*  History  nf  Mass.  Vol.  I.  pp.  72.  and  458. 

fSee  Vol.  I.  Ma^s.  His.  Coll.  3d  Series.  The  same  writer 
Bays  in  his  Key  to  the  Tndian  Languages — "  Their  agreement 
in  the  government  is  remarkable.  The  old  Sachem  will  not 
be  offended  at  what  the  young  Sachem  doth  ;  and  the  young 
Sachem  will  not  do  what  he  conceives  will  displease  his  uncle  " 


180  iNDIAN     BIOGRAPHY 

side  of  the  river,  without  the  boundaries  of  either 
Jurisdiction.  Upon  this,  Mr.  Williams,  utterly  forlorn, 
crossed  the  river,  and  threw  himself  on  the  mercy 
of  Canonicus. 

The  savage  chieftain — to  his  eternal  praise,  be  it 
recorded — received  him  with  a  hospitality  worthy  of 
an  emperor.  At  first,  indeed,  he  was  suspicious  of 
his  visitor's  motives  ;  and  he  was  none  the  more  pre 
possessed  in  his  favor,  from  his  subjects  having  recent- 
Iv  suffered  excessively  from  a  formidable  epidemic, 
which  he  supposed  to  have  been  introduced  by  the 
English.  "  At  my  first  coming  among  them,"  Mr. 
Williams  writes,  "  Caunounicus*  (inorosus  aeque  ac 
barbarus  senex)  was  very  sour,  and  accused  the 
English  and  myself  of  sending  the  plague  among 
them,  and  threatening  to  kill  him  especially."  Soon 
afterwards,  however,  he  not  only  permitted  the 
refugee,  and  the  poor  wanderers  who  had  followed 
him  from  Salem,  to  have  a  resting  place  in  his 
domain,  but  he  gave  them  all  "  the  neck  of  land 
lying  between  the  mouths  of  Pawtucket  and  Mosha- 
suck  rivers,  that  they  might  sit  down  in  peace  upon 
it,  and  enjoy  it  forever."  Mr.  Williams  divided  this 
land  equally  among  his  followers,  and  founded  the 
town  of  Providence.  The  settlement  of  Rhode 
Island  commenced  at  Patuxet  a  short  time  afterwards, 
Canonicus  conveying  to  Williams  nearly  the  whole 
of  what  is  now  Providence  county  at  one  time. 

The  kindness  of  the  Narraghansett  rulers  is  the 
more  creditable  to  their  feelings,  inasmuch  as  the 
former  relations  between  them  and  the  English  col 
onies  had  been  far  enough  from  friendly.  Early  in 
1622,  their  threats  of  hostility  were  so  open,  that  the 

*  The  following  are  but  a  few  of  the  other  modifications  of  this 
name  in  use. 

CONONICUS.       Trumbull's  mss.  Vol.  J9th. 
CAUNONICUS      Baylies'  History  of  Plymouth. 
CONAUCUS.         Winslow's  GOOD  NEWS  FROM  NEW  ENGLAHD 
OANNONICUS.    Gookin. 

CASANACUS.      Documents  in  Hazard's  Collection. 
{/oopfooNACus,  CANOONACUS  and  CONGWNACUS      Same. 


INDIAN    B10GRAPHVT.  181 

English  wore  receiving  constant  intelligence  of  their 
designs  from  the  Indians  in  their  own  alliance  ;  and 
not  long  afterwards,  Canonicus  sent  a  herald  to  Ply 
mouth,  who  left  a  bundle  of  arrows  enclosed  in  a 
rattle-snake's  skin — the  customary  challenge  to  war. 
The  Governor  despatched  a  messenger  in  return, 
hearing  the  same  skin  stuffed  with  gunpowder  and 
bullets;  assuring  the  chieftain  also,  that  if  he  had 
shipping,  instead  of  troubling  him  to  come  so  far  as 
Plymouth  to  gratify  his  wish  for  fighting,  he  would 
have  sought  him  in  his  own  country  ; — and  further 
more,  that  whenever  he  did  come,  he  should  find 
the  English  ready  for  him.  This  resolute  message 
had  the  desired  effect,  and  the  sachem's  superstition 
confirmed  it.  Fearful  of  some  mysterious  injury, 
he  refused  to  touch  the  skin,  and  would  not  suffer  it 
even  to  remain  in  his  house.  It  passed  through 
several  hands,  and  at  length  was  returned  to  the  col 
>ny,  unopened. 

In  1632,  the  sachem  made  an  attack  on  Massasoit, 
who  fled  for  refuge  to  an  English  house  at  Sowams; 
and  sent  despatches  for  the  assistance  of  his  English 
allies.  As  Captain  Standish  took  a  special  interest  in 
this  case,  there  must  soon  have  been  a  warm  contest 
between  the  parties,  had  not  the  Narraghanserts 
hastily  retreated,  on  account  of  a  rumor  that  the 
Pequots  were  invading  their  own  territory.  Four 
years  afterwards,  when  the  last  named  nation  for 
med  the  design  of  completely  extirpating  the  Eng 
lish  from  New  England,  they  applied  to  their  old 
enemies,  Canonicus  and  Miantonomo,  to  conclude  a 
peace,  and  to  engage  them  with  as  many  other  tribes 
as  possible  in  a  common  cause  against  the  colonists. 

The  sachems  are  said  to  have  wavered  on  that 
occasion,  between  the  gratification  of  present  revenge 
upon  the  Pequots,  and  the  prospect  of  an  ultimate 
triumph  over  the  English  power  by  uniting  with 
them.  Their  friendship  for  Roger  Williams,  and 
the  influence  he  was  consequently  enabled  to  exer 
cise,  probably  turned  the  scale.  Miantonomo  inform- 


182  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

ed  him  of  the  Pequot  application  ;  Mr.  Williams  for 
warded  the  news  immediately  to  Governor  Winthrop 
at  Boston ;  and  Canonicus,  by  the  same  messenger, 
sent  word  of  recent  depredations  which  he  had  jusl 
understood  to  have  been  committed  by  the  Pequota 
at  Say  brook.  The  Governor,  probably  folio  wing  the 
suggestion  of  Mr.  Williams,  sent  for  Miantonomo  to 
do  him  the  honor  of  a  visit. 

He  came  to  Boston  accordingly  in  Septembei 
1636,  attended  by  two  of  the  sons  of  Canonicus,  an 
other  sachem,  and  about  twenty  sanops  (or  male 
adults.)  As  he  had  given  notice  of  his  approach  the 
day  previous,  the  governor  sent  a  corps  of  musketeers 
to  meet  him  at  Roxbury  ;  and  they  escorted  him 
into  town  about  noon.  By  this  time,  Mr.  Winthrop 
had  called  together  most  of  the  magistrates  and 
ministers  of  Boston,  but  it  being  now  dinner  time, 
ceremony  and  business  were  both  postponed.  The 
sachems  dined  by  themselves  in  the  same  room 
with  the  governor,  while  the  sanops  were  amply 
provided  for  at  an  inn.  In  the  afternoon,  Miantonornc 
made  his  proposals  of  peace ;  and  said  that,  in  case 
of  their  acceptance,  he  should  in  two  months  send  a 
present  to  confirm  them.  The  governor,  according 
to  their  own  custom,  asked  time  to  consider  this  pro 
posal.  At  the  second  conference,  which  took  place 
the  next  morning,  the  following  terms  were  agreed 
upon,  and  subscribed  by  the  governor  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  marks  of  the  sachems  on  the  other. 

1.  A  firm  peace  between  the  Massachusetts  col 
ony,  and  the  other  English  plantations,  (with  their 
consent,)  and  their  confederates  (writh  their  consent.) 

2.  Neither  party  to  make  peace  with  the  Pequots, 
without  consultation  with  the  other. 

3.  Not  to  harbor  the  Pequots. 

4.  To  put  to  death  or  deliver  over  murderers,  and 
to  return  fugitive  servants. 

5.  The  English  to  notify  them,  when  they  march 
ed  against  the  Pequots,  and  they  to  send  guides. 

6.  Ff  ee  trade  between  the  two  nations. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  183 

7.  None  of  them  to  visit  the  English  settlements 
during  the  war  with  the  Pequots,  without  some  Eng- 
Jshman  or  known  Indian  in  company. 

The  treaty  was  to  continue  to  the  posterity  of  both 
nations.  On  its  conclusion,  the  parties  dined  together 
as  before.  They  then  took  formal  leave  of  each 
other  ;  and  the  sachems  were  escorted  out  of  town, 
and  dismissed  with  a  volley  of  musketry.  The  pres 
ent  oromised  by  Miantonomo  appears  to  have  been 
sent  in  early  in  1637,  when  a  deputation  of  twenty- 
six  Narraghansetts  came  to  Boston,  with  forty  fathom 
of  wampum  and  a  Pequot's  hand.  The  governor 
gave  each  of  the  four  sachems  in  the  company,  "  a 
coat  of  fourteen  shillings  price,  and  deferred  to  return 
his  present  till  after,  according  to  their  manner."* 
It  is  well  known,  how  fully  the  Narragh  an  setts  dis 
charged  their  engagements  in  the  expedition  which 
took  place  about  this  time  against  the  Pequots.  They 
also  furnished,  through  Mr.  Williams,  not  a  little  use 
ful  information  respecting  the  common  enemy,  by 
which  the  expedition  was  guided  at  the  outset ;  and 
offered  the  use  of  the  harbors  of  the  Narraghansett 
coast,  for  the  English  vessels. 

The  joint  invasion  of  the  allies  took  place  in  May. 
The  English  forces,  taking  the  Narraghansett  country 
in  their  way,  acquainted  Canonicus  and  Miantonomo 
with  their  arrival  and  plan  of  campaign.  The  latter 
met  them,  the  next  day,  with  about  two  hundred  of 
his  chief  counsellors  *and  warriors.  Mason  tnade 
a  formal  request  for  permission  to  pass  through  his 
territories,  on  his  way  to  the  Pequot  forts.  Mian 
tonomo,  after  a  solemn  consultation,  replied,  that  he 
highly  approved  of  the  expedition,  and  would  send 
men,  especially  as  the  English  force  appeared  to  him 
quite  too  insignificant  to  meet  the  Pequots,  who  were 
^reat  warriors.  About  five  hundred  warriors  accord 
ingly  marched  against  the  enemy,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Mason  ;  and  some  of  them  did  active  service. 

*Winthrop'«  Journal,  p.  217 


184  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

The  chief  sachems  took  no  part,  personally,  in  the 
campaign.* 

In  September  1638,  the  Pequots  being  completf- 
"y  conquered,  Uncas,  the  chief  sachem  of  the  Mohe- 
gans,  (who  had  assisted  in  the  war,)  and  Miantonomo 
were  invited  to  meet  the  Connecticut  magistrates  at 
Hartford,  to  agree  upon  a  division  of  captives. 
These  were  two  hundied  in  number,  besides  women 
and  children.  Eighty  of  them  were  allotted  to  the 
Narraghansett  sachem  ;  twenty  to  a  neighboring  chief, 
Nimgret ;  and  the  other  one  hundred  to  Uncas. 
The  Pequots  were  to  pay  an  annual  tribute  of  wam 
pum  at  Hartford.  It  was  also  covenanted,  that  there 
should  be  a  perpetual  peace  between  Miantonomo 
and  Uncas  ;  that  all  past  injuries  should  be  buried  ; 
that  if  any  should  be  committed  in  future,  complaints 
should  be  submitted  amicably  to  the  arbitration  of  the 
English,  both  parties  being  bound  to  abide  by  their 
decision  on  pain  of  incurring  their  hostility.  No 
open  enemies  of  the  English  were  to  be  harbored, 
and  all  individual  criminals  were  to  be  given  over  to 
justice. 

*  According  to  some  writers  they  did  not  even  meet  Major 
Mason,  in  conference,  as  above  related.  Mr.  Wolcott,  (Gov. 
of  Conn,  from  1751  to  1754,)  in  his  poetical  "  Account  of  Mr. 
Winthrop's  agency  in  obtaining  a  charter  for  Connecticut  '* 
gives  the  following  notice  of  that  interview: 

The  news  of  this  our  inarch,  fame  doth  transport 

With  speed  to  great  Miaantinomoh's  court. 

Nor  had  that  pensive  king  forgot  the  losses, 

He  had  sustained  through  Sassacus's  forces. 

Cheer'd  with  the  news,  his  captains,  all  as  one, 

In  humble  manner  do  address  the  throne, 

And  press  the  king  to  give  them  his  commission 

To  join  the  English  in  this  expedition. 

To  their  request  the  cheerful  king  assents, 

And  now  they  fill  and  form  their  regiments 

To  war:  a  cohort  which  came  marching  down 

To  us,  who  lay  encamp'd  before  the  town. 

Their  chiefs  go  to  our  general,  and  declare 

What 's  their  intention  and  whose  men  they  are.  &e 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY  186 

The  terms  of  this  treaty  did  not  long  remain  in- 
riolate.  Whatever  were  the  motives  of  Mianto- 
nomo,  and  whatever  his  justification,  he  soon  became 
bitterly  hostile  to  the  Mohegans  at  least.  It  might 
have  been  reason  enough  with  him  for  opposing  both 
them  and  the  English,  that  either  was  his  enemy ; 
because  he  knew  them  to  be  bound  together  by 
alliance  of  offence  and  defence.  But  it  seems  prob 
able,  that  he  intended  only  to  fight  the  Mohegans. 
His  old  grudge  against  the  Pequots  revived  against 
them,  as  a  branch  of  the  Pequot  stock.  Uncas,  too, 
was  his  greatest  personal  rival:  arid  Miantonomo 
was  ambitious  to  stand  at  the  head  of  all  the  New 
England  Indians.  If,  however,  as  has  been  asserted 
by  some,  his  main  design  was  to  resist  the  growing 
power  of  the  English,  from  merely  patriotic  motives, 
it  was  clear,  that  an  essential  step  towards  the  attain 
ment  of  this  object,  and  especially  towards  a  hostile 
union  of  all  the  tribes,  must  be  the  death  of  Uncas, 
and  the  suppression  of  his  tribe.  Other  causes  of 
hostility  will  be  considered  hereafter. 

But  be  the  reasoning  of  the  sachem  what  it  might, 
his  measures  were  of  a  character  not  to  be  mistaken 
Great  efforts  were  made  for  a  general  co-operation 
of  the  tribes,  especially  in  Connecticut.  They  were 
observed  to  be  collecting  arms  and  ammunition,  and 
to  be  making  a  general  preparation  for  war.  The 
colonists  thought  themselves  obliged  to  keep  guard 
and  watch  every  night,  from  sunset  to  sunrise,  and 
to  protect  their  inhabitants  from  town  t  j  town,  and 
even  from  one  place  to  another  in  the  same  neighbor 
hood. 

Meanwhile  Miantonomo  is  said  to  have  hired  a 
Pequot,  subject  to  Uncas,  to  kill  him.  The  assassin 
made  an  attempt,  in  the  spring  of  1643.  He  shot 
Uncas  through  the  arm,  and  then  fled  to  the  Narra- 
ghansetts,  reporting  through  the  Indian  towns  that 
he  had  killed  him.  When  it  was  understood,  how 
ever,  that  the  wound  was  not  fatal,  the  Pequot  cir 
culated  a  rumor  that  Uncas  had  purposely  cut  his 
I— P 


186  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

own  arm  with  a  flint,  and  then  charged  the  Pequot 
with  shooting  him.  But,  Miantonomo  soon  after 
going  to  Boston  in  company  with  the  refugee,  the 
governor  and  magistrates,  on  examination,  found 
clear  evidence  that  the  latter  was  guilty  of  the  crime 
with  which  he  was  charged.  They  proposed  sending 
him  to  Uncas  to  be  punished ;  but  Miantonomo 
pleaded  that  he  might  be  suffered  to  return  with  him 
self;  and  gave  them  to  understand,  it  is  said,  that  he 
would  send  him  to  Uncas.  He  took  occasion  to  ex 
culpate  himself  of  all  blame  in  the  affair,  and  con 
vinced  them  so  completely,  that  his  requests  were 
granted.  Two  days  afterwards,  he  killed  the  Pequot 
with  his  own  hand. 

About  the  same  time,  an  event  took  place  in  an 
other  direction,  under  circumstances  which  strongly 
indicated  the  same  authorship.  SEQUASSEN,  a  sa- 
chern  on  the  Connecticut  river,  killed  a  principal 
Indian  of  the  Mohegan  tribe;  and  waylaid  Uncas 
himselfj  as  he  was  going  down  the  river,  arid  shot 
several  arrows  at  him.  Uncas  complained  to  the 
governor  and  court  of  the  colony,  who  took  great 
pains  to  settle  the  affair,  but  without  success.  He 
was  finally  induced  to  accept  of  one  of  Sequassen'a 
Indians,  to  be  given  up  as  an  equivalent  for  the  mur 
dered  man ;  but  Sequassen  would  not  consent  to 
submission  or  concession  of  any  kind.  He  insisted 
upon  fighting.  Uncas  accepted  his  challenge,  and 
invaded  his  territory  ;  and  Sequassen  was  defeated, 
with  the  loss  of  many  of  his  wigwams  burned,  and 
his  men  killed.* 

As  the  conquered  sachem  was  nearly  allied  to 
Miantonomo,  and  upon  intimate  terms  with  him,  it 
was  generally  believed  that  he  acted  from  his  instiga 
tion,  and  with  the  promise  of  his  assistance  in  case 
of  necessity.  He  even  expressed,  openly,  his  reliance 
on  the  aid  of  Miantonomo. 

The  Narraghansett  chief  was  not  a  man  to  desert 

*  Trumbull's  Connecticut. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  1U7 

his  ally  or  to  retreat  from  his  foe.  Having  hastily 
matured  a  plan  of  campaign,  it  was  the  next  object 
to  strike  the  intended  blow  with  the  most  possible 
effect,  and  that  implied  the  least  possible  notice.  He 
raised  an  army  of  between  five  hundred  and  one 
thousand  men,  and  marched  towards  the  Mohegan 
territory.  The  spies  of  Uncas  discovered  their  ap 
proach,  and  gave  him  intelligence.  The  enemy  was 
already  near,  and  Uncas  was  unprepared ;  but  he 
hastily  rallied  four  or  five  hundred  of  his  men,  and 
telling  them  that  the  enemy  must  by  no  means  be 
suffered  to  surprise  them  in  their  villages,  marched 
out  to  meet  him  forthwith.  At  the  distance  of  three 
or  four  miles,  the  two  armies  encountered  each  other 
upon  a  large  plain.  Meanwhile,  Uncas,  who  found 
himself  obliged  to  rely  more  upon  stratagem  than 
strength,  had  acquainted  his  warriors  on  the  march 
with  a  plan  which  lie  now  proceeded  to  put  in 
execution. 

He  desired  a  parley,  and  the  two  armies  halted  in 
the  face  of  each  other.  Then  advancing  in  the  front 
of  his  men,  he  addressed  Miantonomo  :  "You  have 
a  number  of  stout  men  with  you,  and  so  have  I  with 
me.  It  is  a  great  pity  that  such  brave  warriors 
should  be  killed  in  a  private  quarrel  between  us  only. 
Come  on,  then,  like  a  man,  as  you  profess  to  be,  and 
let  us  fight  it  out.  If  you  kill  me,  my  men  shall  be 
yours. — If  I  kill  you,  your  men  shall  be  mine." 
Miantonomo  saw  his  advantage  too  clearly  to  accept 
such  a  proposal.  "  My  warriors,"  said  he,  "  have 
come  a  long  way  to  fight,  and  they  shall  fight." 
The  reply  was  anticipated,  and  it  was  scarcely  utter 
ed,  when  Uncas  fell  to  the  ground.  His  men  dis 
charged  over  him  a  shower  of  arrows  upon  the 
Narraghansetts ;  and  then  following  up  the  surprise 
without  a  moment's  interval,  rushed  upon  them  furi 
ously  with  a  hideous  yell,  and  soon  put  them  to  flight. 

The  pursuit  was  sustained  with  a  ferocious  eager 
ness.  The  enemy  were  chased  down  rocks  and 
precipices,  like  the  doe  flying  from  the  huntsman 


i88  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

About  thirty  were  slain,  and  a  much  greater  number 
wounded.  Miantonomo  was  exceedingly  pressed. 
Some  of  the  bravest  men  of  Uncas  at  length  came  up 
with  him;  but  not  daring  actually  to  skirmish  with 
him,  or  preferring  to  leave  that  honor  to  their  leader, 
they  contrived  to  impede  his  flight  by  twitching  him 
back,  and  then  passed  him.  Uncas  now  carne  up, 
and  rushing  forward  like  a  lion  greedy  of  his  prey,  he 
seized  him  by  the  shoulder.  The  Narraghansett 
saw  that  his  fate  was  decided — Uncas  was  a  man 
of  immense  strength,  and  his  warriors  were  thick 
around  him.  He  stopped,  sat  down  sullenly,  and 
spake  not  a  word.  Uncas  gave  the  Indian  whoop, 
and  called  up  a  party  of  his  men,  who  gathered 
about  the  royal  captive  and  gazed  at  him.  He  still 
continued  moody  and  speechless.  Some  of  his 
sachems  were  slain  before  his  eyes,  but  he  moved 
not  a  muscle.  "Why  do  you  not  speak,"  inquired 
Uncas,  at  length  ;  "  had  you  taken  me,  I  should  have 
besought  you  for  my  life."  But  the  Narraghansett 
was  too  proud  to  ask  such  a  boon  of  his  enemy,  and 
especially  of  his  rival.  Uncas  however  spared  his 
life  for  the  present,  and  returned  in  great  triumph  to 
Mohegan,  leading  along  with  him  the  splendid  living 
evidence  of  his  victory. 

The  notorious  Samuel  Gorton  having  purchased 
lands  of  Miantonomo,  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
Plymouth  and  Massachusetts,  and  expecting  to  be 
vindicated  by  him  in  his  claims  against  those  colonies, 
and  against  other  Indian  tribes,  he  immediately  sent 
word  to  Uncas  to  give  up  his  prisoner,  and  threatened 
him  with  the  vengeance  of  the  colonies  if  he  refused 
a  compliance.  But  Uncas  shrewdly  bethought  him 
self  of  a  safer  course.  He  carried  his  prisoner  to 
Hartford,  and  asked  advice  of  the  governor  and  mag 
istrates.  There  being  no  open  war  between  the 
Narraghansetts  and  English,  these  authorities  were 
unwilling  to  interfere  in  the  case,  and  they  recom 
mended  a  reference  of  the  whole  affair  to  the  com 
missioners  of  the  United  Colonies,  at  their  next 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  18i> 

meeting  in  September.  Meanwhile,  Minntonomo 
had  recovered  his  speech.  He  probably  expected' 
better  treatment  with  the  English  than  with  Uncos, 
and  IK;  now  earnestly  pleaded  to  be  committed  to 
their  custody.  Uncas  consented  to  leave  him  at 
Hartford,  but  insisted  on  having  him  kept  as  kis 
prisoner. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  commissioners  the  whole 
affair  was  laid  before  them.  In  their  opinion  it  was 
fully  proved  that  Miantonomo  had  made  attempts 
against  the  life  of  Uncas,  by  all  the  menus  and 
measures  heretofore  alluded  to,  and  by  poison  and 
sorcery  besides ;  that  he  had  murdered  the  Pequot 
assassin  with  his  own  hand,  instead  of  giving  him  np 
to  justice  ;  that  he  was  the  author  of  a  general  plot 
among  the  Indian  tribes  against  the  colonies  ;  and 
that  he  had  moreover  gone  so  far  as  to  engage  the 
aid  of  the  Mohawks,  who  were  now  within  a  day's 
journey  of  the  English  settlements,  waiting  only  for 
Miantonomo's  release  to  serve  him  according  to  his 
pleasure. 

"These  things  being  duly  weighed  and  consider 
ed,"  say  the  commissioners  in  their  report,*  "we 
apparently  see  that  Vricas  cannot  be  safe  while 
Myantenomof  lives,  but  that  either  by  secret  treachery 
or  open  force  his  life  will  still  be  in  danger.  Where 
fore  we  thinke  he  may  justly  putt  such  a  false  and 
blood-thirsty  enemie  to  death,  but  in  his  own e  Juris- 

*  Hazard's  Collections,  Vol.  II.  p.  7. 

fHaz.  Coll.  Vol.  II.  p.  7. — The  reader  will  observe  the 
variation  of  the  Sachem's  name  here  used.  There  are  several 
others  in  Hazard.  Hutchinson  writes  MVANTlNOMO  and 
MIANTONOMO  in  the  same  volume;  Baylies,  both  terms  in  the 
course  of  the  same  page;  Trumhull  adds  an  h.  Winthrop 
admits  this  spelling  with  the  qualification  that  the  chief  was 
otherwise  called  M  E  CUM  EH  (as  he  was) ;  but  he  afterwards 
regularly  uses  MIANTUNNOMOH.  Mason,  (account  of  the 
Pequot  war,)  writes  MYANTONIMO  and  MIANTOAIO;  WoU 
cott,  MIAANTINOMOH;  Roger  Williams,  MiANTUNNoaiu, 
and  several  other  variations.  We  are  thus  particular  only  in 
the  hope  of  amusing  the  curious. 


190 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 


diccon,  not  in  the  English  plantacons ;  and  advising 
that  in  the  manner  of  his  death  all  mercy  and  mode- 
racon  be  shewed,  contrary  to  the  practice  of  the  Indi 
ans  who  exercise  tortures  and  cruelty,  and  Vncas 
haveing  hitherto  shewed  himself  a  friend  to  the  Eng 
lish,  and  in  this  craveing  their  advice,  if  the  Nano- 
higgansetts  Indians  or  others  shall  unjustly  assaulf 
Vncas  for  this  execucon,  vpon  notice  and  request  tho 
English  promise  to  assist  and  protect  him,  as  farr  aa 
they  may,  against  such  vyolence." 

The  commissioners  further  directed,  that  tineas 
should  immediately  be  sent  for  to  Hartford,  with  some 
of  his  trustiest  men  ;  an  1  informed  of  the  sentence 
passed  upon  his  °aptive.  He  was  then  to  take  him 
into  the  nearest  part  of  his  own  territory,  and  there 
put  him  to  death  in  the  presence  of  certain  discreet 
English  persons,  who  were  to  accompany  them, 
"and  see  the  execucon  for  our  more  full  satisfaccon, 
and  that  the  English  meddle  not  with  the  head  or 
body  at  all."  The  Hartford  Government  was  subse- 

rently  to  furnish  Uncas  with  forces  enough  to 
fend  him  against  all  his  enemies. 
These  directions  were  promptly  obeyed.  Uncas 
made  his  appearance  at  Hartford,  received  his  pris 
oner,  and  marched  off'  with  him  to  the  very  spot 
where  the  capture  had  happened.  At  the  instant 
they  arrived  on  the  ground,  a  Mohegan  who  marched 
behind  Miantonomo  split  his  head  with  a  hatchet, 
killing  him  at  a  single  stroke ;  so  that  he  was  proba 
bly  unacquainted  with  the  mode  of  his  execution. 
Tradition  says  that  Uncas  cut  out  a  piece  of  his 
shoulder,  and  ate  it  in  savage  triumph.  "  He  said  it 
was  the  sweetest  meat  he  ever  eat — it  made  his  heart 
strong."  The  royal  victim  was  buried,  by  the  con 
queror's  order,  at  the  place  of  his  death;  and  a  great 
heap  or  pillar  was  erected  over  his  grave.  The  field 
of  battle,  situated  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town  of 
Norwich,  is  called  the  Sachem's  Plain  to  this  day 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  191 


CHAPTER  X. 

Consideration  of  the  justice  of  the  Commissioners  sentenct 
upon  Miantonomo — Their  reasons,  as  alleged — The  charge 
against  him  of  ambitious  designs — Of  employing  the  Mohawks 
— Of  breaking  the  league  of  1638 — "  Concerning  the  Pequot 
squaws" — Of  hostility  to  the  English — Of  peculation — Proofs 
of  his  fidelity  and  friendship — Causes  of  complaint  by  him 
and  Canonicus  against  the  English — Character  of  both 
Sachems— Their  treatment  of  Roger  Williams — 'Letters  ot 
that  gentleman— -Anecdotes — Death  of  Canonicus. 

IT  is  not  easy  to  determine,  at  this  period,  the  jus 
tice  of  the  sentence  by  which  Miantonomo  was  led 
to  the  slaughter.  As  between  himself  and  his 
enemy,  considering  Indian  custom  and  character, 
it  might  be  considered  just ;  and  the  sufferer  would 
certainly  have  been  the  last  to  complain  of  it.  But 
though  Uncas  may  not  be  blamed  for  using  the 
privilege  of  the  victor,  a  different  opinion  has  been 
entertained  of  the  interference  of  the  English. 
Their  justification,  as  laid  before  the  Narraghansett 
nation,  after  Miantonomo's  death,  was  as  follows  : 

"  They  may  well  vnderstand  that  this  is  without 
violacon  of  any  couenant  betweene  them  and  vs ; 
for  Vncus  being  in  confederacon  with  vs,  and  one  that 
hath  diligently  observed  his  couenants  before  men 
tioned  for  aught  we  know,  and  requiring  advice  from 
vs,  vpon  serious  consideracon  of  the  premises,  viz. 
his  [Miantinomo]  treacherous  and  murtherous  dis 
position  against  Vncus  &c.  and  how  great  a  disturber 
he  hath  beene  of  the  common  peace  of  the  whole 
countrey,  we  could  not  in  respect  of  the  justice  of 
the  case,  safety  of  the  countrey  and  faythfulness  of 
our  frend,  do  otherwise  than  approve  of  the  lawful 
ness  of  his  death.  This  agreeing  so  well  with  the 
Indians  owne  manners,  and  concurring  with  the 
practice  of  other  nations  with  whom  we  are  aquaint- 
ed,  we  persuade  ourselves  howeuer  his  death  mav  bo 


1962  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

grieuous  at  present,  yet  the  peaceable  fruits  of  it  will 
yield  not  only  matter  of  safety  to  the  Indians,  but 
profile  to  all  that  inhabite  this  continent." 

Supposing  every  thing  to  be  true  which  is  here 
and  elsewhere  alleged,  it  may  still  be  doubted 
whether  the  colonies  could  be  justified  in  the  part 
taken  by  their  commissioners ; — but  such  is  not  th« 
case. 

His  killing  the  Pequot  was  one  point  against  him , 
but  what  could  be  more  natural  than  for  them  to 
misunderstand  his  promise  in  that  case,  or  for  him 
to  suppose  that  administering  justice  with  his  own 
hand  would  be  the  most  satisfactory  course  he  could 
take.  Stress  is  laid  upon  Miantonomo's  "  ambitious 
designes  to  make  himself  vniversal  Sagamore  or  Gov 
ernor  of  all  these  parts;"  but  this,  whether  laudable 
or  reprehensible  in  itself,  was  clearly  no  usurpation 
as  against  them.  As  to  his  hostility  towards  the 
English,  suffice  it  to  say  here,  that  the  evidence  of  it 
seenis  to  have  been  furnished  chiefly  by  his  enemies, 
whose  direct  interest  it  was  to  oppress  him  by  en 
gaging  the  English  interest  in  their  own  favor.  As 
to  the  employment  of  the  Mohawks,  in  particular, 
the  most  that  was  made  to  appear,  even  through  this 
medium,  was,  that  they  were  awaiting  Miantonomo's 
release — "  and  then  they  will  carry  on  their  designes, 
whether  against  the  English  or  Vncus  or  both,  is 
doubtful."* 

Let  us  observe  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Williams  in 
regard  to  this  affair,  borrowing  from  a  letter  written 
immediately  after  it  took  place.  "  A  fortnight  since, 
I  heard  of  the  Mauquawogs  coming  to  Paucom- 
tuckqut,  their  rendezvous  ;  that  they  were  provoked 
t»y  Onkas  wronging  and  robbing  some  Paucomtuck 
Indians  the  last  year,  and  that  he  [Uncas]  had  dared 
r.he  Mauquawogs,  threatening  if  they  came  to  set  his 
u-Tound  with  gobbets  of  their  flesh  &c." 

He  admits,  that  a  few  of  the  Narraghansetts  had 


*  Hazard's  Col.    Vol.  II.  p.  9.  Commissioners'   Report 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  193 

joined  the  Mohawks :  hut  these,  whether  they  were 
well  or  ill  disposed  towards  the  English,  were  at 
all  events  considered  traitors  to  Miantonomo.  Else 
where  he  states,  "yt  ye  Narigansetts  arid  Mau- 
quawogs  are  the  two  great  bodies  of  Indians  in  ye 
country,  and  they  are  confederates,  and  long  have 
bene  as  they  both  yet  are  friendly  and  peaceable  to  ye 
English."* 

Miantonomo  is  said  to  have  violated  the  league  of 
16.38,  by  invading  the  country  of  Uncas,  without 
having  previously  submitted  his  grievances  to  the 
decision  of  the  English.  But  did  he  not  think  him 
self  absolved  from  the  obligation  created  by  that 
league,  in  consequence  of  violations  of  it  on  the  part 
of  the  English.  He  probably  regarded  them  at  this 
very  time,  precisely  as  they  regarded  him.  Roger 
Williams  writes  on  one  occasion,  when  letters  of 
complaint  had  been  sent  to  him  from  Massachusetts, 
that  "they  [Miantonomo  and  Canonicus]  thought 
they  should  prove  themselvs  honest  and  faithful, 
when  Mr.  Governor  understood  their  answers  ;  and 
ihat  (although  they  would  not  contend  with  their 
friends)  yet  they  could  relate  many  particulars, 
ivherein  the  English  had  broken  (since  these  wars) 
iheir  promises." 

Respecting  the  alleged  violation  of  the  Hartford 
league  in  particular,  we  might  perhaps  properly 
waive  all  attempts  at  justification,  inasmuch  as  the 
charge  hardly  purports  to  be  true.  Governor  Win- 
ihrop  gives  an  account  of  the  affair  as  received  of 
ficially  from  Connecticut,  by  which  it  appears  that 
Miantonomo,  before  taking  part  with  Sequassen,  ap 
plied  to  the  authorities  of  that  province  for  redress 
of  grievances  committed  upon  him  by  Uncas.  He 
was  answered,  that  the  English  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  business  He  then  applied  also  to  Governor 
Winthrop  himself,  and  was  very  desirous  to  know  if 
he  would  not  be  offended,  by  his  making  war  upon 

*  Ms.    Leuers.  on  the  Mass.  Col.  Rec.   (File  10.  No.  45.) 
10—13 


194  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

Uncas.  "Our  Governor  answered,  ij  Onkus  haa 
done  him  or  his  friends  wrong,  and  would  not  give 
satisfaction,  we  should  leave  him  to  take  his  oivn  course"* 
The  account  which  follows  next  of  the  explanation 
given  upon  one  point  by  the  accused  parties,  is  suf 
ficiently  characteristic  of  their  intelligence,  at  least, 
to  be  quoted  at  length.  "  First  then,  concerning  the 
Fequot  squaws.  Canaunicus  answered  that  he  never 
saw  any,  but  heard  of  some  that  came  into  these 
parts,  and  he  bade  carry  them  back  to  Mr.  Governour ; 
but  since  he  never  heard  of  them  till  I  came,  and  now 
he  would  have  the  country  searched  for  them.  Mi- 
antunnomu  answered,  that  he  never  heard  of  but  six ; 
and  four  he  saw  which  were  brought  to  him,  at 
which  he  was  angry,  and  asked  why  they  did  not  carry 
them  to  me,  that  I  might  convey  them  home  again 
Then  he  bid  the  natives  that  brought  them  to  carry 
them  to  me,  who  departing  brought  him  word  that 
the  squaws  were  lame,  and  they  could  not  travel, 
whereupon  he  sent  me  word,  that  I  should  send  for 
them.  This  I  must  acknowledge,  that  this  message 
I  received  from  him,  and  sent  him  word,  that  we 
were  but  few  here,  and  could  not  fetch  them  nor  con 
vey  them,  and  therefore  desired  him  to  send  men 
with  them,  and  to  seek  out  the  rest.  Then,  saith  he, 
we  were  buzy  ten  or  twelve  days  together,  as  indeed 
they  were  in  a  strange  kind  of  solemnity,  wherein 
the  sachems  eat  nothing  but  at  night,  and  all  the  na 
tives  round  about  the  country  were  feasted.  In 
which  time,  saith  he,  I  wished  some  to  look  to  them, 
which  notwithstanding,  in  this  time,  they  scaped, 
and  now  he  would  employ  men  instantly  to  search 
all  places  for  them,  and  within  two  or  three  days  to 
convey  them  home.  Besides  he  profest  he  desired 
them  not,  and  was  sorry  the  govemour  should  think 
he  did.  I  objected  that  he  sent  to  beg  one.  He  an 
swered,  that  Sassamun,  being  sent  by  the  governour 
with  letters  to  Pequot,  fell  lame,  and  lying  at  his 

*  Journal  Vol.  II.  and  Rttord$  of  the  Colonit* 


195 

house,  told  him  of  a  squaw,  which  was  a  sachem's 
daughter,  who  while  he  lived  was  his,  Miantun- 
noinue's,  great  friend.  He  [Miantonomo]  therefore 
desired  in  kindness  to  his  dead  friend,  to  beg  her  or  re 
deem  her  [of  Mr.  Williams.] 

In  reply  to  a  charge  touching  his  fidelity  to  the 
English  alliance,  Canonicus  declared  that  the  Nar- 
raghansetts  "  had  stuck  to  the  English  in  life  or  death, 
without  which  they  were  persuaded  that  Okace 
{Tineas]  and  the  Mohiganeuks  had  proved  false,  as  he 
fears  they  will  yet."  He  then  went  on  to  specify  his 
reasons  for  this  persuasion  and  this  fear.  He  also 
stated,  that  although  the  Mohegans  had  yet  brought 
in  no  captives,  his  own  brother,  Yootash,  had  on 
one  occasion  "  seized  upon  Puttaquppuunk,  Quame 
and  twenty  Pequts  and  three-score  squaws ;  they 
killed  three  and  bound  the  rest,  watching  them  all  night, 
and  sending  for  the  English  delivered  them  into  their 
hands  in  the  morning"  Jt  seems  that  soon  afterwards 
Miantonomo  passed  the  house  where  the  Pequots 
were  kept  confined  by  the  English,  and  having  a  curi 
osity  to  see  one  of  the  captive  sachems — a  man  of  con 
siderable  note — he  made  application  for  that  purpose 
— but  was  thrust  at  with  a  pike  several  times  by  the 
English  sentinels,  and  finally  driven  off.  Mr.  Wil 
liams  suggested,  that  probably  he  was  not  recognised ; 
but  he  thought  that  he  was,  and  several  of  the  Nar- 
raghansetts  were  of  the  same  opinion,  and  asked  if 
they  should  have  dealt  so  with  " Mr.  Govemour" 
Mr.  Williams  still  denied,  that  he  could  have  been 
known ;  to  which  Miantonomo  answered  that,  at 
least,  his  whole  company*  were  disheartened,  "  and 
they  all  and  Cutshamquene  desired  to  be  gone  :  and 
yet,  saith  he,  two  of  my  men  (Waqouckwhut  and 
Maunamoh)  were  their  guides  to  Sesquanket  from 
the  river's  mouth." 

*  He  was  at  the  head  of  two  hundred  of  his  warriors,  just 
returned  from  an  expedition  against  the  Pequots,  in  which 
they  had  taken  ten  prisoners,  and  had  faithfully  brought  them 
in  at  this  time.  See  the  LIFE  of  Cu TSHAMF.QUIN  in  a  sue 
reeding  Chapter. 


19b  I.NDIAN    B10GRAPHV. 

To  a  third  accusation,  that  he  had  received  pi  ison- 
fcrs  and  warnpurn  of  the  enemy,  which  belonged  to 
the  common  stock,  and  were  nevertheless  monopo 
lized  by  himself,  Canonicus  replied,  that  although 
he  and  *Miantonomo  had  paid  their  own  warriors 
many  hundred  fathom  of  wampum,  he  never  had 
received  one  Pequot  or  one  yard  of  beads.  Mianto- 
nomo  added,  that  he  had  received  nothing  but  one 
email  present  from  four  women  of  Long-Island,  who 
were  no  Pequots,  but  of  that  Island,  and  who,  for 
safety's  sake,  had  thereby  put  themselves  under  his 
protection. 

Other  facts,  if  not  opinions,  appear  in  some  of  the 
early  annals,  which  would  lead  to  similar  conclusions 
respecting  the  fidelity  of  the  Narraghansett  chieft. 
Governor  Winthrop  says,  in  his  journal  of  February 
1637— "  Miantunnomoh  &c.  sent  twenty  six,  with 
forty  fathom  of  wampum,  and  a  Pequot's  hand."  In 
March,  he  records  intelligence  received  from  the 
same  source,  concerning  the  Pequot  movements,  with 
proposals  of  fresh  assistance.  On  the  22d  of  the 
month,  "  Miantunnomoh  sent  us  word,  that  Mason 
had  surprised  and  slain  eight  Pequods  "  &c.  Again, 
during  the  same  summer,  "  Miantunnomoh  sent  here 
some  Pequod  squaws,  which  had  run  from  us  ;"  and 
five  days  afterwards,  "  the  Narraghansetts  sent  us  the 
hands  of  three  Pequods  "  &c.  The  two  last  statements 
agree  with  the  declaration  of  the  sachems  to  Mr. 
Williams,  apparently  upon  the  same  points. 

We  have  seen  that  Canonicus  accused  the  English 
of  having  broken  their  promises.  Omitting  the  proof 
vf  that  statement,  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  at  least, 
ihat  it  was  made  in  the  most  earnest  sincerity.  The 
writer  just  cited  informs  us  incidentally  in  his  KEY 
TO  THE  INDIAN  LANGUAGES,  that  Canonicus,  in  a 
solemn  address  to  himself,  before  a  large  assembly, 
nad  once  used  the  following  expression — "I  have 
never  suffered  any  wrong,  to  be  offered  to  the  Eng 
lish  since  they  landed,  nor  never  will.  If  the  Eng 
lishmen  speak  true,"  he  added,  "  then  I  shall  go  to  m? 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  197 

grave  in  peace,  and  hope  that  the  English  and  my 
posterity  will  live  in  peace  arid  love  together."  Mr 
Williams  observed,  that  he  hoped  he  had  no  occasion 
to  question  the  friendliness  of  the  English.  Upon 
this  the  sachem  took  a  stick,  hroke  it  into  ten  pieces, 
and  related  ten  instances,  laying  down  a  stick  to 
every  instance,  which  gave  him  cause  for  apprehen 
sion  or  suspicion.  With  regard  to  some  of  them,  he 
was  afterwards  convinced  of  his  being  mistaken,  and 
readily  acknowledged  himself  to  be  so  ;  but  not  as  to 
all. 

The  truth  probably  is,  that  provocations  of  some 
sort  had  been  received  upon  both  sides  ;  but  that  the 
English  had  any  peculiar  reason  to  complain,  and 
especially  to  assume  the  violent  administration  of 
punishment  or  prevention,  certainly  cannot  be  admit 
ed.  There  is  no  evidence  extant  to  support  such  a 
position.  Mr.  Williams  indeed  acknowledges,  with 
his  usual  frankness,  that  individual  Narraghansetta 
had  perhaps  now  and  then  committed  offences  in 
"  matters  of  money  or  pettie  revenging  of  themselves 
in  some  Indians  upon  extream  provocation :"  but  he 
also  states,  in  the  same  paragraph,  that  he  "could 
not  yet  learn  yl  ever  it  pleased  ye  Lord  to  permit  y* 
Narighansetts  to  staine  their  hands  with  any  Eng 
lish  blood,  neither  in  open  hostilities  nor  secret 
rnurthers,  as  both  Pequts  arid  Long  Islanders  did, 
and  Monhiggans  also  in  ye  Pequt  wars."* 

This  statement  we  suppose  to  be  un contradicted, 
and  the  authority  is  certainly  deserving  of  credit. 
Now,  for  a  moment,  let  us  examine  the  other  side  of  the 
question,  bearing  in  mind  how  little  likely  we  are, 
under  the  circumstances,  to  be  furnished  by  history 
with  the  truth,  and  least  of  all  with  the  whole  truth. 

Some  instances  in  point  have  already  been  given. 
The  excessive  jealousy  and  the  frequent  complaints 
of  the  English  were  in  themselves  calculated  to  pro- 
iuce,  if  not  to  justify,  what  they  referred  to  "  The 

*  Ms.    Letters. 


15>8  INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY 

governor  of  the  Massachusetts" — says  Mr.  Wiuthrop, 
in  his  journal  of  1638 — "  wrote  also*  to  Mr.  Williams 
to  treat  with  Miantunnomoh  about  satisfaction,  or 
otherwise  to  bid  thtm  look  for  war."  This  was  a  harsh 
message,  at  the  best,  to  send  to  a  sovereign  ally,  who 
had  faithfully  served  the  English  cause.  The  only 
reason  for  it  which  appears  in  the  context  is,  that 
Janemoh,  a  Niautick  chief,  was  understood  to  have 
committed  certain  depredations  on  a  settlement  of 
Long  Island  Indians  who  were  tributary  to  the 
English.  Now  some  of  that  tribe,  we  have  seen, 
put  themselves  under  Miantonomo's  protection :  and 
there  are  no  means  of  determining  whether  that 
chieftain  did  not  in  this  case,  like  the  English,  feel 
/«»we//*  aggrieved  by  Janemoh.  We  do  find  it  re 
corded,  however,  that,  in  the  summer  of  1637,  Mian- 
tonomo  came  to  Boston.  The  governor,  deputy, 
arid  treasurer,  treated  with  him,  and  they  parted  upon 
fair  terms.  He  acknowledged  on  this  occasion,  that 
all  the  Pequot  and  Block  Island  country  belonged  to 
the  English,  and  promised  that  he  would  not  meddle 
with  them  but  by  their  leave.  "  In  fine,  we  gave 
him  leave  to  right  himself  for  the  wrongs  which  Jane 
moh  and  Wequash  Cook  had  done  him :  and  for  the 
wrong  they  had  done  us,  we  would  right  ourselves 
in  due  time."* 

Not  far  from  the  time  when  the  above  mentioned 
complaint  seems  to  have  been  made  through  Mr. 
Williams,  the  latter  writes  to  Governor  Winthrop  as 
follows.  "  Sir,  there  hath  been  a  great  hubbub  in 
all  these  parts,  as  a  general  persuasion  that  the  tune 
was  come  for  a  general  slaughter  of  natives,  by  rea 
son  of  a  murther  committed  upon  a  native  [Narra- 
ghansett]  within  twelve  miles  of  us,  four  days  since, 
by  four  desperate  English.  *  *  An  old  native  cornea 
to  me,  and  tells  me,  that  the  natives  round  about  us 
were  fled,  relating  that  those  four  had  slain  an  Indian, 
ivho  had  carried  three  beaver-skins  and  beads  fbi 


*  Winthrop's  Journal,  Vol.  I.  243. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  199 

Canaunicus's  son,  and  came  home  with  five  fathoin 
and  three  coats  ;  that  three  natives  which  came  after 
him  found  him  groaning  in  the  path  ;  that  he  told 
them,  &c."  The  particulars  of"  this  flagrant  outrage 
—even  to  the  Christian  and  surnames  of  the  four 
murderers — are  given  with  a  minuteness  which  pre 
cludes  the  possibility  of  mistake.  And  yet  we  find 
no  mention  of  this  transaction  in  the  English  his 
tories.  Miantonomo  perhaps  made  his  complaint 
to  the  proper  authority,  without  success.  But  more 
probably  he  endured  the  injury  in  silence,  as  a  new 
evidence  that  his  allies  were  become  his  enemies. 

Still,  it  should  not  be  omitted,  that  Miantonomo 
never  declined  to  make  all  the  explanation  for  which 
a  fair  opportunity  was  given  him.*  As  late  as  1642, 
two  messengers  were  sent  to  him  by  the  Massachu 
setts  government,  with  articles  of  complaint ;  requi 
ring  him  to  come  himself  or  send  two  of  his  chief 
counsellors  to  the  governor,  in  order  to  give  satisfac 
tion  for  certain  grievances  alleged.  He  attended  thi« 
•summons  promptly  and  personally.  On  his  arrival 
at  Boston,  he  came  forward  in  court,  and  demanded 
that  his  accusers  should  be  brought  before  him  face 
to  face ;  and  that  if  they  failed  in  their  proof,  they 
should  suffer  the  same  punishment  which  their  ac 
cusations  were  calculated  to  bring  upon  himself 
The  whole  deportment  on  this  occasion  was  grave 
and  dignified.  His  answers  were  given  with  great 
deliberation,  and  never  except  in  the  presence  of  the 
counsellors  who  attended  him,  that  they  might  be 
witnesses  of  every  thing  which  passed.  Two  days 
were  spent  in  treaty.  He  denied  all  he  was  charged 
with,  and  affirmed — what  we  have  already  suggested 
—that  the  reports  to  his  disadvantage  were  raised  and 
circulated,  either  by  Uncas,  or  some  of  his  people. 
Such  an  effect,  (it  should  be  here  observed)  had 

*  "  The  messengers  coining  to  him,  he  carried  them  apart 
into  the  woods,  taking  only  one  of  his  chief  men  with  him,  and 
cave  them  very  rational  answers  to  all  their  propositions,  &c." 
Win.  Journal,  Vol.  II. 


200  I.ND1A.N     BIOGRAPHY. 

these  reports  already  produced,  that  the  Connecticu 
people  were  importunate  for  open  war  with  the  Nar- 
raghansetts  at  this  very  time ;  and  it  required  the 
whole  influence  of  the  Massachusetts  authorities, 
(who  doubted, "  whether,  they  had  sufficient  prcofsof 
the  designs  of  the  Indians  to  justify  a  war,")  to  pre 
vent  immediate  hostilities.  Such  alarm  existed,  that 
places  of  refuge  for  the  women  and  children  were 
provided  in  most  of  the  towns  and  plantations. 
Beacons  were  set  up,  in  readiness  to  be  fired  ;  and 
smiths  were  ordered  to  postpone  other  business  until 
all  the  arms  in  the  colony  were  put  in  complete  re 
pair.  A  great  excitement  was  produced  in  the  towns 
about  Boston,  by  a  poor  man,  in  a  swamp  at  Water- 
to  WP  crying  out  for  help  against  a  kennel  of  wolves 
which  he  heard  howling  around  him  in  the  night. 
And  although  Massachusetts  was  opposed  to  war, 
"  Yet  the  governor,  with  the  magistrates,  before  the 
court  met,  thought  it  necessary  to  disarm  the  Indians 
within  the  colony,  which  they  readily  submitted 
to."* 

Miantonomo,  as  was  very  natural,  not  only  noticed 
these  symptoms  of  jealousy  on  his  visit  to  Boston, 
but  felt  keenly  the  ill-will  they  implied,  and  inquir 
ed  the  cause  of  them.  Governor  Winthrop  gave 
him  an  evasive  answer,  with  which,  however,  he  po 
litely  professed  to  be  satisfied.  He  then  entered  into 
quite  an  argument,  to  show  that  the  suspicions  which 
had  been  entertained  of  him  were  unjust,  and  were 
owing  to  the  machinations  of  his  enemies.  He  of 
fered  to  meet  Uncas  either  at  Hartford  or  at  Boston, 
and  to  prove  his  treachery  to  the  English,  in  their 
presence.  He  should  stand  ready  to  come  at  any 
time,  he  added;  and  this  notwithstanding  he  had 
been  advised  not  to  visit  the  English  again,  lest  they 
should  seize  upon  his  person.  He  relied  upon  his 
innocence,  and  he  would  visit  them,  whenever  if 
was  deemed  necessary  that  he  should. 

*  Hutchinson,  Vol.  I 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  20  1 

It  is  acknowledged  in  fine,  that  he  gave  perfect 
satisfaction  at  this  time.  Considering  the  entertain 
ment  which  was  given  him,  and  his  great  pride  of 
character,  that  was  quite  as  much  as  could  be  expect 
ed.  "  When  we  should  go  to  dinner"  —  it  is  record 
ed  in  the  Governor's  Journal  -"  there  was  a  tahle 
provided  for  the  Indians,  to  dine  hy  themselves, 
and  Miantunnomoh  ivas  lejt  to  sit  with  them.  This  he 
was  discontented  at,  and  would  eat  nothing  till  the 
governor  sent  him  meat  from  his  tahle.  So  at  night, 
and  all  the  time  he  staid,  he  sat  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
magistrates'  table"  But  he  overlooked  the  indignity, 
and  parted  upon  good  terms.  "  We  gave  him  and 
his  counsellors  coats  and  tohacco  ;  and  when  he 
came  to  take  his  leave  of  the  governor,  and  such  of 
the  magistrates  as  were  present,  he  returned  and  gave 
his  hand  to  the  governor  again,  saying,  that  was  for 
the  rest  of  the  magistrates  who  were  absent."  It 
may  be  observed,  that  the  examination  in  this  case, 
which  resulted  thus  satisfactorily  to  Massachusetts^ 
was  a  deliberate  and  thorough  one.  The  court  was 
already  assembled,  when  he  arrived  at  Boston  ;  and 
even  before  his  admission,  all  the  points  and  order 
of  inquiry  were  agreed  upon  :  "  For  we  knew  him,' 
says  the  governor,  "  to  be  a  very  subtle  man."*  The 
same  authority  admits,  that  he  showed,  in  his  an 
swers,  "  a  good  understanding  of  the  principles  of 
equity  and  justice,  and  ingenuity  withal." 

The  attack  of  Miantonomo  upon  Uncas,  indepen 
dently  of  the  interest  which  the  English  had  in  it, 
has  been  regarded  as  a  moral  if  not  legal  outrage  — 
an  unprovoked,  unprincipled  aggression  —  the  off 

ing  of  hatred,  envy,  or  at  best  of  mere  ambition. 
ut  even  here  we  do  not  happen  to  be  without 


epr 
Bu 


*  A  phraseology,  which,  as  implying  prejudice,  is  rather  more 
creditable  to  the  subject  than  the  writer,  llubbard  describes 
nim  as  a  very  goodly  personage,  of  tall  stature,  subtile  and 
tunning  in  his  contrivements,  as  to  (.11  as  haughty  in  kit 
designs. 

T—  Q 


202  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

proof,  as  well  as  probability,  in  favor  of  the  accused 
In  more  than  one  case,  if  not  generally,  the  fault  was 
on  the  side  of  Uncas  ;  and  that  being  true,  it  must 
naturally  occur  to  every  reader,  to  inquire,  in  the 
language  applied  to  a  similar  case  by  Mr.  Williams, 
— "  Graunt  these  subjects,  Whai  capacitie  hath  their 
late  massacre  of  ye  Narrgansetts  (with  whom  they  h/id 
made  peace)  without  y-  English  consent,  tho1  still  under 
ye  English  name,  put  them  into  ?"*  A  very  forcible 
query,  it  must  be  admitted  ;  and  to  show  its  relevancy 
to  the  present  subject,  let  us  look  again  for  a  few 
facts. 

Soon  after  the  Pequot  war,  when  the  chieftains 
who  had  assisted  the  English  in  carrying  it  on,  con 
vened  at  Hartford  for  a  division  of  the  spoil,  Mr. 
Williams  accompanied  Miantonomo  on  his  journey. 
"By  the  way,"  says  he,  ("lodging  from  his  house 
three  nights  in  the  woods,)  we  met  divers  Nanhiggon- 
tick  [Narraghansett]  men  complaining  of  robbery 
and  violence,  which  they  had  sustained  from  the 
Pequts  and  Monahiggins  in  their  travel  from  Cun- 
nihticut  [Connecticut] ;  as  also  some  of  the  Wun- 
nashowatuckoogs  [subject  to  Canaunicus]  came  to  us 
and  advertised,  that  two  days  before  about  six  hun 
dred  and  sixty  Pequts,  Monahiggins  and  their  con 
federates  had  robbed  them  and  spoiled  about  twenty- 
three  fields  of  corn  ;  and  rifled  four  Nanhiggontick 
men  amongst  them ;  as  also  that  they  lay  in  way  and 
wait  to  stop  Miantunnomue's  passage  to  Cunnihti- 
cut,  and  divers  of  them  threatened  to  boil  him  in 
the  kettle." 

These  tidings  being  confirmed  by  various  authori 
ties,  Mr.  Williams  and  the  other  English  in  the  com 
pany,  were  strongly  in  favor  of  turning  back,  and 
going  to  Hartford  by  water.  But  Miantonomo  de 
clared  that  not  a  man  should  retreat ;  he  would  keep 
itrict  watch  by  night,  and  in  dangerous  passes  the 
•achems  should  all  march  with  a  body-guard,  but 

*  M».    Letter?,  dated  1654. 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY  203 

Chey  should  die,  as  he  himself  would,  rather  than 
turn  back.  They  moved  on,  therefore,  the  English 
with  Miantonomo  and  his  wife  in  front,  and  a  flank- 
guard  of  forty  or  fifty  men  on  either  side  to  prevent 
•urprisal.  They  arrived  safely  at  Hartford,  and  the 
conference  took  place.  Uncas  was  accused  of  con 
niving  at  the  trespasses  of  his  men  upon  the  Nar- 
raghansetts,  and  he  retorted  with  charges  of  the 
same  kind  upon  Miantonomo.  The  result  of  this 
angry  discussion  was,  as  follows.  "  At  last  we  drew 
them  to  shake  hands,  Miantunnomu  and  Okace ; 
and  Miantunnomu  invited  (twice,  earnestly)  Okace 
to  sup  and  dine  with  him,  he  and  all  his  company 
(his  men  having  killed  some  venison  :)  but  he  would 
not  vield,  altho'  the  magistrates  persuaded  him  also 
to  it?' 

The  magnanimity  manifested  by  the  chieftain  on 
this  occasion,  was  uniformly  a  prominent  part  of  his* 
character.  When  he  visited  Boston  in  1640 — as  he 
always  did,  at  the  request  of  the  Massachusetts  gov 
ernment — he  was  entertained  first  by  the  govern 
ment  at  Roxbury ;  but  when  the  parley  was  to  com 
mence,  he  refused  to  treat  through  the  medium  of 
a  Pequot  interpreter.  The  governor  being  unwilling 
to  yield  this  point  to  him — as  good  policy,  if  not 
manners  apparently  required  that  he  should — he 
departed  abruptly  for  Boston,  without  so  much  as 
taking  leave  of  his  host.  The  latter  informed  the 
court  of  this  conduct,  "and  would  show  him  no 
countenance,  nor  admit  him  to  dine  at  our  table  as 
formerly,  until  he  had  acknowledged  his  failing, 
which  he  readily  did  as  soon  as  he  could  be  made  to 
understand  it"*  He  observed,  however,  with  some 
dignity,  that  when  the  English  should  visit  him,  he 
should  cheerfully  permit  them  to  use  their  own  fash 
ions,  as  they  always  had  done. 

Previous  to  the  expedition  against  the  Pequots, 
ooth  Miantonomo  and  Canonicus  had  expressed  a 

*  Win.  Jour.  Vol    II. 


204  INDIAN*     BlOGRAPHi'. 

wish  tliat  whatever  was  done  with  the  warriors  of 
the  enemy,  their  women  and  children  should  bt 
spared.  There  was  a  chivalry  in  this  request — and 
it  does  not  seem  to  have  been  soon  forgotten — which 
accords  with  all  that  is  known  of  both  these  chief 
tains.  Canouicus  might  have  suppressed  the  Plym 
outh  colony  in  1622,  at  a  single  blow ;  but  he  thought 
it  more  honorable  to  give  them  formal  notice  of  his 
hostile  intentions,  by  a  messenger ;  and  when  he  be 
came  convinced  that  they  had  been  misrepresented 
to  him,  he  at  least  ceased  to  be  their  enemy  if  he  did 
not  become  their  friend.  In  the  same  spirit,  Mian- 
tonomo,  while  in  the  custody  of  the  governor  of  Con 
necticut,  cautioned  him  to  increase  his  guard.  He 
openly  declared — what  was  the  fact — that  attempts 
were  and  would  be  made  by  his  Narraghansett  sub 
jects  for  his  rescue. 

There  is  a  most  affecting  evidence  of  the  same 
noble  disposition,  in  the  report  of  the  commissioners 
for  1644.  The  Narraghansetts,  now  constantly  com 
plaining  of  the  conduct  of  Uncas  and  his  tribe, 
brought  a  charge,  among  other  things,  that  the  latter 
had  embezzled  a  quantity  of  wampum  which  had 
been  put  into  their  hands  for  the  ransom  of  Mian- 
tonomo,  while  the  chief  was  yet  living.  How  much 
truth  there  might  be  in  the  allegation,  cannot  well 
be  ascertained.  The  commissioners  however  report, 
that  they  gave  a  fair  hearing  to  the  '  Narrahiggansett* 
deputies  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  Uncas  on  the  other 
The  result  is  thus  stated  • 

"  That  though  severall  discourses  had  passed  from 
Vncus  and  hip  men  that  for  such  quantities  of  wam- 
pom  and  sucn  parcells  of  other  goods  to  a  great 
value  there  might  have  been  some  probabilitie  of 
spareing  his  life,  yet  no  such  parcells  were  brought. 
But  Vncus  denyeth  ;  and  the  Narrohiggansett  Depu 
ties  did  not  allready,  much  less  proue  that  any  ran- 
some  was  agreed,  nor  so  much  as  any  treaty  begunn 
to  redeeme  their  imprisoned  Sachem.  And  for  thai 
wampoms  and  goods  sent  as  they  were  but  smal 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  205 

parcels  and  scarce  considerable  for  such  a  purpose, 
a  part  of  them  disposed  by  Myantinorno  himself  to 
Vncus  his  counsellors  and  captaines  for  some  favour 
either  past  or  hoped  for  and  part  were  giuen  and  sent 
to  Vncus  and  to  his  Squafor  presenting  his  life  so  long 
and  vssing  him  curteously  during  his  Impnsonmeni. 
What  could  be  nobler  than  this  ? 

The  warm  and  constant  friendship  of  the  two 
sachems  for  Williams  himself,  is  a  sufficient  indica 
tion  of  noble  natures.  Canonicus  was  suspicious  of 
him  at  first;  "but  with  Miantunnomu,"  writes  Mr. 
Williams  soon  after  his  removal,  "  I  have  far  better 
dealing.  He  kept  his  barbarous  court  lately  at  my 
house.  He  takes  some  pleasure  to  visit  me,  and  sent 
me  word  of  his  coming  over  again  some  eight  days 
hence."  When  the  treaty  of  1636  was  negotiated  at 
Boston,  Miantonomo  not  being  able  to  understand 
perfectly  all  the  articles,  or  perhaps  not  placing  en 
tire  confidence  in  the  Massachusetts  government, 
desired  that  a  copy  should  be  sent  to  his  friend 
Williams — if  he  was  satisfied,  it  was  intimated,  no 
objection  or  difficulty  would  arise  upon  his  own  part. 
The  conveyances  of  land  heretofore  spoken  of,  were 
made  to  him  in  the  same  feeling.  "  It  was  not  price 
or  money,"  says  the  grantee,  "  that  could  have  pur 
chased  Rhode  Island :  but 't  was  obtained  by  love, 
that  love  and  favor  which  that  honored  gentleman, 
Sir  Henry  Vane,  and  myself,  had  with  the  great 
sachein,  Miantunnomu,  about  the  league  which  I 
procured  in  the  Pequod  war.  The  Indians  were 
very  shy  of  selling  lands  to  any,  and  chose  rather 
to  make  a  grant  [gift]  of  them,  to  such  as  they  af 
fected." 

It  might  be  supposed,  that  Mr.  Williams  had  pecu 
liar  facilities  for  instructing  the  sachems  in  the  doc 
trines  of  Christianity :  but  he  did  not  attempt  a  great 
deal  in  this  way,  and  his  reasons  for  it  are  given  in 
his  KEY  TO  THE  1  LANGUAGES.*  He  observes,  that  he 

*  In    1654,   (Mass.)  he  \«  ••UP.S     "at  my  last  departure  fyt 


206  INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

once  heard  Miantonomo  conversing  witu  several  ot 
his  chief  warriors  about  keeping  the  English  Sabbath 
At  another  time,  a  Connecticut  Indian  undertook,  in 
Miantonorno's  presence,  to  dispute  Mr.  Williams'? 
doctrine,  that  the  souls  of  the  good  should  go  tc 
heaven,  and  those  of  the  wicked  to  hell.  Our  Fath 
ers  have  told  us,  said  he,  that  all  go  to  the  South- 
West,  and  this  I  believe.  "  And  why  so,"  asked  the 
eachem,  "  did  you  ever  see  a  soul  go  to  the  South- 
West  ?"  To  this  the  other  rejoined,  that  the  evidence 
was  the  same  in  this  respect  for  the  Indian  doctrine 
as  for  that  of  Mr.  Williams.  "Ah  !"  answered  Mian 
tonomo,  "  but  he  has  books  and  writings,  and  one 
which  God  himself  has  made ;  he  may  well  know 
more  than  we  or  our  fathers."  The  anecdote  cer 
tainly  shows  a  great  confidence  of  the  sachem  in  his 
English  acquaintance. 

We  shall  close  our  remarks  upon  this  part  of  our 
subject  with  citing  at  large  one  of  the  letters  to  which 
we  already  have  been  so  much  indebted  for  facts. 
[t  is  sufficiently  characteristic  of  both  the  writer  and 
the  chieftains  his  friends,  to  repay  us  for  the  labor  of 
perusal.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  written  in 
October  1637. 

«  The  last  of  the  week.     I  think  the  28th  of  the  8th. 
Sir. 

This  bearer,  Miantunnomu,  resolving  to  go  on 
his  visit,  [to  Boston]  I  am  bold  to  request  a  word  of 
advice  from  you  concerning  a  proposition  made  by 
i^anaunicus  and  himself  to  me  some  half  year  since. 
Canaunicus  gave  an  island  in  the  bay  to  Mr.  Oldam, 
by  name  Chibachuwese,  on  condition,  as  it  should 
seem,  that  he  would  dwell  there  near  unto  them.  The 

England,  I  was  importuned  by  ye  Narigansett  sachims,  and 
especially  by  Nanekunat,  to  pressent  their  petition  to  ye  high 
pachims  of  England,  yt  they  might  not  be  forced  from  their  re 
ligion,  and  for  not  changing  their  religion  be  invaded  by  war: 
for  they  said  they  were  daily  visited  by  threatenings  by  Indiana 
yt  came  from  about  ye  Massachusetts  )t  if  they  would  not  pray 
they  should  be  destoved  by  war."  Ms.  Letters. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  207 

Lord  (iii  whose  hands  all  hearts  are)  turning  their 
affections  towards  myself  they  desired  me  to  move  hith 
er  and  dwdl  nearer  to  them.  I  have  answered  once 
and  again,  that  for  the  present  I  mind  not  to  remove. 
But  if  I  have  it  from  them  I  would  give  them  satisfac 
tion  for  it,  and  build  a  little  house,  and  put  in  some 
swine,  as  understanding  the  place  to  have  store  of 
fish  and  good  feeding  for  swine.  Of  late  I  have 
heard  that  Mr.  Gibbons,  upon  occasion,  motioned 
your  desire  and  his  own  of  putting  some  swine  on 
some  of  these  islands,  which  hath  made  me  since 
more  desire  to  obtain  it.  I  spake  of  it  to  this  sachem, 
and  he  tells  me  that  because  of  the  store  ofjish,  Canau- 
nicus  desires  that  I  would  accept  half(h  being  spectacle 
wise,  and  between  a  mile  or  two  in  circuit,  as  1 
guess)  and  he  would  reserve  the  other ;  but  I  think, 
if  I  go  over,  /  shall  obtain  the  whole.  Your  loving 
counsel,  how  far  it  may  be  inoffensive,  because  it 
was  once  (upon  a  condition  not  kept)  Mr.  Oldam's. 
So  with  respective  salutes  to  your  kind  self  and  Mrs. 
Winthrop,  I  rest 

your  worship's  unfeigned,  in  all  I  may. 

Ro.  WILLIAMS." 

For  his  much  honored  ? 

Mr.  Governour,  these."  $ 

A  singular  paragraph  in  a  previous  communication 
addressed  to  the  same  gentleman,  indicates  that  the 
writer  took  some  pains  to  requite  the  various  favors 
conferred  upon  him.  "  Sir,  if  any  thing  be  sent  to 
the  princes,  [alluding  to  proposed  presents,]  I  find 
that  Canaunicus  would  gladly  accept  of  a  box  of 
eight  or  ten  pounds  of  sugar,  and  indeed  he  told  me 
he  would  thank  Mr.  Governor  for  a  box  full." 

In  fine,  we  cannot  dismiss  the  biography  of  Mian- 
tonomo  without  confessing  a  sensation  of  sorrow, 
and  even  shame,  arising  from  the  contemplation  of 
the  lofty  and  noble  traits  which  certainly  adorned 
his  character,  contrasted  with  the  ignominous  death 
which  he  met  with  at  the  hands  of  his  allies.  The 
learned  editor  of  a  recent  edition  of  Winthrop'a  Jour- 


208  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

nal,  calls  it  a  case  of  "perfidy  or  cruelty,  or  both. 
He  also  expresses  an  opinion,  that  the  argument 
which  really  though  secretly  decided  the  minds  of 
ihe  commissioners  against  the  sachem,  was  his  en 
couragement  of  the  sale  of  Shaomet  and  Patuxet  to 
Gorton  and  his  associates.  Without  going  as  far  as 
this,  we  may  be  permitted  to  say,  that  the  case  re 
quires  all  the  apology  which  can  be  derived  from  the 
great  excitement  of  the  times,  occasioned  especially 
by  the  power  and  movements  of  the  Indians. 

Such  seems  to  have  been  the  opinion  of  Governor 
Hopkins,*  who,  it  will  be  observed,  also  intimates  a 
new  explanation  of  the  conduct  of  the  colonies,  to 
wards  the  Narraghansett  chief.  His  eloquent  and 
generous  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  latter,  we  do 
not  think  ourselves  at  liberty  to  omit  or  abridge. 

"  This,"  says  that  eminent  scholar,  and  patriot, "  was 
ihe  end  of  Myantinomo,  the  most  potent  Indian  prince 
the  people  of  New-England  had  ever  any  concern 
with  ;  and  this  was  the  reward  he  received  for  assist 
ing  them  seven  years  before,  in  their  war  with  the  Pe- 
quots.  Surely  a  Rhode-Island  man  may  be  permitted 
to  mourn  his  unhappy  fate,  and  drop  a  tear  on  the  ashes 
of  Myantinomo ;  who,  with  his  uncle  Conanicus,  were 
the  best  friends  and  greatest  benefactors  the  colony 
[of  R.  I.I  ever  had.  They  kindly  received,  fed,  and 
protected  the  first  settlers  of  it,  when  they  were  in 
distress,  and  were  strangers  and  exiles,  and  all  man 
kind  else  were  their  enemies ;  and  by  this  kindness 
to  them,  drew  upon  themselves  the  resentment  of  the 
neighboring  colonies,  and  hastened  the  untimely  end 
of  the  young  king." 

Nothing  of  great  interest  can  be  added  to  the  his 
tory  of  Canonicus,  subsequent  to  the  death  of  his 
colleague.  Messengers  were  sent  to  him,  the  same 

*  See  his  Account  of  Providence  Colony,  first  published  in 
the  Providence  Gazette  of  1765,  and  preserved  in  the  Mast. 
Hix.  Coll.  He  was  governor  of  Rhode-Island  for  nine  years, 
but  is  better  known  as  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declar&ion 
of  Independence. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  209 

year,  to  explain  the  circumstances  of  that  event,  and 
to  take  measures  for  preserving  peace.  In  1644,  he 
is  said  to  have  subjected  himself  and  his  teritory  to 
the  Government  of  Charles  I.  of  England,  by  a  deed 
dated  April  19th.*  He  must  have  been  near  ninety 
years  of  age  at  this  time,  and  if  actually  in  the  exer 
cise  of  government,  no  doubt  was  more  disposed 
than  ever  to  live  peaceably  with  his  English  neigh 
bors. 

Mr.  Winthrop  states,  that  he  died  June  4th,  1647. 
Mr.  Hubbard  says  1648,  and  he  has  been  copied  by 
late  writers  (including  Holmes :)  but  the  former  date 
is  believed  to  be  the  better  authenticated  of  the  two. 
One  or  two  historians  indeed  seem  to  confound  the 
old  sachem  with  a  younger  man,  who  was  killed  in 
Philip's  war,  by  the  Mohawks,  in  June  1676.  This 
person  bore  the  same  name,  and  may  have  been  one 
of  his  descendants.  Between  twenty  and  thirty  years 
before  this,  Mr.  Williams,  (the  best  authority  on  all 
that  relates  to  the  Narraghansetts,)  writes,  that  "  their 
late  famous  long-live  Caunnonicus  so  liv'd  and  died, 
and  in  ye  same  most  honorable  manner  and  solem- 
nitie  (in  their  way)  as  you  laid  to  Sleepe  your  Prudent 
Peace-Maker,  Mr.  Winthrop,  did  they  honour  this, 
their  Prudent  and  Peaceable  Prince."f 

*  Report  of  Commissioners  appointed  in  1683  by  Charles  II 
to  enquire  into  the  claims  and  titles  to  the  NARRAGHANSKTT 
COUSTRY.    5th.  Vol.  of  Mass.  His.  Coll.  l$t.  Seriet. 
\M*.   Letter*. 

10—14 


210  l.VDIAN     HIOGRAPHT 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Oanonicus  succeeded  by  P  E  s  s  A  c  u  s — M  E  x  H  A  M  — N  i  N  i  o  R  K  i 
Sachem  of  the  Nianticks — Proposals  made  by  them  to  the 
English,  and  by  the  English  in  return — They  commence  hos 
tilities  against  Uncas — The  English  resolve  to  make  war 
upon  them — They  make  concessions — Their  visits  to  Boston 
—Subsequent  movements  against  Uncas.  An  armed  party 
sent  against  Ninigret  and  Pessacus — They  are  accused  of  a 
league  with  the  Dutch  against  the  English. 

STRICTLT  speaking,  there  was  no  successor  to  Ca- 
nonicus  in  the  government  of  the  Narraghansetts, 
the  lineage,  talents  and  age  of  that  sachem  having 
given  him  a  peculiar  influence  over  his  countrymen, 
which  none  other  among  them  could  command 
At  his  death,  therefore,  the  authority  which  he  ha(« 
monopolized  at  one  time,  and  afterwards  shared  with 
Miantonomo  and  others,  reverted  into  that  form  of 
dominion  (half  way  between  oligarchy  and  democ 
racy,  and  occasionally  vibrating  to  each  extreme,) 
which  is  common  among  the  Indian  tribes. 

One  of  the  Narraghansett  chiefs,  after  that  period, 
was  his  son,  MEXHAM,  otherwise  called  Mexamo, 
Mixamo,  Meihammoh,  and  by  Roger  Williams 
also  Mriksah  and  Mejhsah.  Considering  the  mul 
titude  of  his  names,  he  is  rather  less  distinguished 
than  might  be  supposed.  Mr.  Williams  however 
gives  him  the  credit  of  inheriting  'his  father's  spirit' 
of  friendliness  for  the  English.  In  another  passage, 
speaking  of  the  Nipmucks,  he  says  '  they  were  un 
questionably  subject  to  ye  Narrhigansett  sachims, 
<tnd  in  a  special  manner  to  Mejhsah,  ye  son  of  Caun- 
onnicus,  and  late  husband  to  this  old  SQUA-SACHIM 
now  only  surviving.'*  This  letter  bearing  date  of 
May  7th,  1668,  Mexaham  must  have  died  previous 
to  that  time.  The  name  of  his  widow  and  succea- 

*MS.  Letter*. 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  ^11 

•or,  (sometimes  called  QUAI  APEN,  and  more  frequently 
MAGNUS,)  who  was  a  woman  of  great  energy,  figures 
not  a  little  in  the  history  of  King-Philip's  war.  We 
may  hereafter  have  occasion  to  mention  both  hus 
band  and  wife. 

A  more  distinguished  character  was  PESSACCS, 
generally  believed  to  have  been  the  brother  of  Miari- 
tonomo,*  and  therefore  nephew  of  Canonicus — a 
better  authenticated  theory  than  that  of  Johnson^ 
who  (in  his  WONDER-WORKING  PROVIDENCE,)  calls 
him  a  son.  He  was  born  about  the  time  of  the 
English  settling  at  Plymouth,  and  was  therefore  not 
far  from  twenty  years  old  when  his  brother  was 
killed.  His  name  being  associated  with  that  of 
Canonicus  in  the  deed  of  1644,  alluded  to  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  it  may  be  presumed,  that  the 
mantle  of  Miantonomo,  after  his  death,  fell  upon 
the  shoulders  of  Pessacus.  It  will  soon  appear,  how 
much  he  interested  himself,  both  as  sachem  and 
brother,  in  the  revenge  of  that  outrage. 

It  is  impossible  to  pursue  the  career  of  either  of 
these  chieftains,  eminent  in  history  as  some  of  them 
are,  without  connecting  them  not  only  with  eacli 
other,  but  with  a  foreign  party  who  still  remains  to  be 
named.  We  refer  to  NiNiGRET,f  chief  sachem  of 
the  Nianticks,  generally  considered  a  Narraghansett 
tribe,  and  certainly  the  most  considerable  of  all 
those  which  profited  by  the  alliance  of  that  people. 
Miantonomo  spoke  of  them  to  Governor  Winthrop, 
in  1642,  "  as  his  own  flesh,  being  allied  by  continual 
intermarriages  ;"  and  the  governor  consequently  had 

•Winthrop. 

f  Variously  entitled  by  various  writers. 
•  f.  NINIGRATE,  by  Hutchinson. 

NYNIGRETT,      Mason's  Pequot  war 

NINICRITE,        Hubbard. 

NINICRAFT,        Same  and  others. 

NINEGRAD,         Prince. 

NENNEGRATT  and  NENNEGRATE,  &c.  Hazard. 

NAHEKUNAT,  NINIGLIJD,  &c.  R.  Williams  and  other* 


212  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

"  some  difficulty  to  bring  him  to  desert  them  "  In 
fact,  they  were  rather  confederates  than  tributaries 
to  Canonicus  during  his  life,  and  the  relationship 
of  blood,  with  no  other  bonds  of  sympathy,  would 
have  abundantly  sufficed  to  keep  up  an  intimate 
connexion  after  his  death.  Prince  states  that  Nini- 
gret  was  the  uncle  of  Miantonomo ;  but  other  wri 
ters  represent  him  as  the  brother  or  brother-in-law; 
and  considering  the  age  of  the  parties  especially,  the 
latter  supposition  is  much  the  more  plausible.  Ei 
ther  will  explain  the  regard  which  he  will  be  found 
to  have  cherished  for  the  memory  of  the  dead  chief 
tain,  and  for  the  person  of  Pessacus,  the  living 
brother. 

We  first  hear  of  Ninigret  in  1632,  from  which 
time  to  1635  a  violent  war  was  carried  on  between 
the  Narraghansetts  and  Pequots.  In  this  he  is  said 
to  have  taken  no  part ;  and  the  fair  inference  is,  that 
he  was  not  from  his  relation  to  the  former  under 
any  necessity,  and  probably  not  under  obligation,  to 
assist  them. 

A  similar  conclusion  might  be  drawn  from  the  di 
vision  of  captives  made  at  the  close  of  the  war  of 
1637,  when  Ninigret's  services  were  acknowledged 
by  the  compliment  of  twenty  Pequots — in  the  same 
mariner,  though  not  in  the  same  measure,  with  those 
of  Uncas  and  Miantonomo.  Like  the  latter,  howev 
er,  Ninigret  took  no  personal  or  active  part  in  that 
war :  and  like  him,  he  permitted  his  subjects  to  go 
volunteers  under  Mason.  Mr.  Wolcott  thus  mentions 
him  on  the  occasion  of  Underbill's  arrival  in  his  ter 
ritory,*  on  his  way  to  the  Pequots : 

And  marching  through  that  country  soon  they  met 
The  Narraghansetf  Prince,  proud  Ninigrett, 
To  whom  the  Engusn  say,  we  lead  these  bands, 
Armed  in  this  manner,  thus  into  your  lands, 

*  The  principal  residence  of  Ninigret,  and  the  centie  of  hit 
dominion,  was  at  Wekapaug,  now  Westerly,  R.  I.  It  wan 
formerly  a  part  of  Stonirigton,  Conn 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  213 

Without  design  to  do  you  injury, 

But  only  to  invade  the  enemy  ; 

You,  who  to  the  expense  of  so  much  blood 

Have,  long  time  born  their  evil  neighborhood, 

Will  bid  us  welcome,  and  will  well  excuse 

That  we  this  way  have  took  our  rendezvouz,  &c."* 

If  what  is  here  intimated  was  true,  that  the  Pe- 
quots  had  been  bad  neighbors  to  the  Nianticks,  as 
they  certainly  had  been  to  the  Narraghansetts,  it  is 
no  matter  of  wonder  that  numbers  of  those  tribes 
engaged  in  the  English  expedition  ;  and  it  indicates 
the  pride,  if  not  magnanimity,  of  their  two  young 
chiefs,  on  the  other  hand,  that  neither  would  con 
sent  to  fight  against  the  common  enemy  of  both. 

From  Major  Mason's  account  of  the  affair,  it  would 
appear  that  the  English  took  this  independence  of 
Ninigret  rather  in  dudgeon.  "On  the  Wednesday 
morning,"  says  that  writer,  "  we  marched  from  thence 
to  a  Place  called  Nayanticke,  it  being  about  eighteen 
or  twenty  miles  distant,  where  another  of  those 
Narraghansetts  lived  in  a  Fort ;  it  being  a  Frontier  to 
the  Pequots.  They  carryed  very  proudly  towards 
us ;  not  permitting  any  of  us  to  come  into  their  Fort." 
Upon  which  Mason  set  a  guard  about  them,  forbid 
ding  the  Indians  to  go  in  or  out,  and  quartered  in 
the  neighborhood  over  night.  Whether  this  'Sa 
chem  '  was  Ninigret  or  one  of  his  subjects,  the  con 
duct  of  Mason  could  hardly  have  left  a  very  gratify 
ing  impression  on  the  mind  of  that  chieftain.  Pos 
sibly,  if  borne  in  mind  by  the  reader,  it  may  throw 
some  light  upon  subsequent  events. 

From  the  time  of  Miantonomo's  death,  all  the  sa 
chems  we  have  mentioned  as  succeeding  to  his 
power,  came  prominently  into  intercourse  with  the 
English.  Ninigret  and  Pessacus,  particularly,  were 

*  «  A  Brief  Account  of  the  Agency  of  the  Hon.  John  Win- 
ihrop  Esq.  in  the  Court  of  King  Charles  the  second,  Anno 
Dom.  1632 ;  when  he  ob  .ained  a  charter  for  the  Colony  of 
Connecticut."  Vol.  IV.  Mass.  His.  Coll. 


214  INDIAN"     BIOGRAPHY 

distinguished  by  a  continual  series  of  controversies 
alternately  with  that  people,  and  the  Mohegans,  ami 
very  often  with  both.  They  inherited  the  stron» 
prejudice  of  the  slaughtered  Narraghansett  against 
tineas  and  his  tribe ;  and  most  bitterly  was  that 
prejudice  exasperated  by  the  slaughter  itself. 

Anticipating  such  an  excitement,  the  commission 
ers,  immediately  after  the  execution  of  the  sentence, 
despatched  messengers  to  Pessacus,  who  were  di 
rected  to  inform  him  that  they  had  heard  of  the  quar 
rel  between  himself  and  Uncas  ;  and  to  propose  that 
he  should  send  delegates  to  Hartford  :  these  should 
meet  delegates  from  Uncas,  and  thus  all  difference? 
be  adjusted.  A  conference  accordingly  was  agreed 
upon,  and  it  took  place  as  proposed.  The  result 
was  stated,  in  the  commissioners  Report:  "They 
did  require  that  neither  themselves  [the  Narraghan- 
setts]  nor  the  Nayanticks  should  make  any  warr  or 
injurious  assault  vpon  Vncus  or  any  of  his  company 
vntil  they  make  proofe  of  the  ransome  charged  &c" — 
alluding  to  the  allegation  that  Uncas  had  embezzled 
money,  deposited  in  his  hands  for  Miantonomo's  re 
demption. 

The  following  agreement  was  subscribed  by  the 
four  "  Narrohigganset  Deputies,"  as  they  are  called  in 
the  Report.  It  should  be  observed,  that  although 
u  the  Nayantick  sachems  "  are  ostensibly  here  repre 
sented,  the  only  evidence  going  to  justify  such  a 
phraseology,  so  far  as  we  know,  is  in  a  previous  state- 
merit  (in  the  Report,)  that  when  the  English  messen 
gers  had  been  sent  to  propose  this  conference,  th« 
Narraghansett  sagamores  "consulting  among  them 
selves  and  with  Kienemo  one  of  the  Nayantick  sachims 
had  sent  a  sagamore  &c."  We  copy  literatim  and 
punctuatim : 

"  Weetowisse  one  of  the  Nairobi  ggansett  sachims 
Pummumsh  (alias)  Pumumshe  and  Pawpianet  two 
of  the  Narrohigganset  Captaines  being  sent  with  two 
of  the  Narrohiggansett  Indians  as  Deputies  from  the 
Warrohigganset  and  Wayantick  sachims  to  make 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  «t5 

proofe  of  the  ransome  they  pretended  was  given  for 
their  late  sachim's  life  as  also  to  make  knourie  some 
other  greevances  they  had  against  Vncus  sachim  of 
the  Mohiggins  did  in  conclusion  j)romise  and  engage 
themselves  (according  to  the  power  committed  to  them) 
that  there  should  be  no  war  begun  by  any  of  the 
Narrohiggansets  or  Nayantick  Indians  with  the  Mo- 
began  sachim  or  his  men  till  after  the  next  planting 
syme,  and  that  after  that,  before  they  begin  warr,  or 
vse  any  hostility  towards  them,  they  will  give  thirty 
dayes  warneing  thereof  to  the  Government  of  the 
Massachusetts  or  Conectacutt. 

Hartford  the  XVIIjth  of  September,  1644 

(Signed  with  the  marks  of)  WEETOWISSK 
PAWPIANET 
CHIMOUGH 
PUMMUMSHE." 

This,  considering  it  an  agreement  authorised  by 
Pessacus,  was  certainly  as  much  as  could  be  reasona 
bly  expected  of  him  ;  for  such  was  his  eagerness  to 
revenge  the  death  of  his  brother,  that  he  had  himself 
sent  messengers  to  confer  upon  the  subject  with  the 
Massachusetts  Government.  Only  a  month  or  two 
after  that  event,  they  carried  a  present  from  him,  of 
an  otter  coat,  with  wampum  to  the  value  of  fifteen 
pounds.  Proposals  of  peace  and  friendship  were 
tendered ;  but  a  request  was  added,  that  the  Gov 
ernor  should  not  assist  Uncas,  whom  he  (Pessacus) 
intended  shortly  to  make  war  upon.  The  Governor 
replied,  that  he  desired  peace,  but  wished  that  all  the 
Indian  tribes,  including  the  Mohegans,  might  be  par 
takers  of  it ;  and  that  unless  Pessacus  would  consent 
to  these  terms,  his  present  could  not  be  received. 
The  messengers  said,  they  had  no  instructions  upon 
this  point ;  they  would  however  return,  and  consult 
with  Pessacus ;  and  meanwhile  the  Governor  wa« 
requested  to  retain  the  present,  which  he  did. 

After  this,  (in  April,  1644)  and  previous  to  the 
Hartford  conference,  the  Governor  sent  messengers 
•n  hif  own  part  to  the  Narraghansetts,  probably  to 


216  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

sound  the  disposition  of  Pessacus.  They  went  first 
to  the  wigwam  of  the  old  sachem  Canon icus,  whom 
they  found  in  such  ill  humor  that  he  did  not  admit 
them,  (as  they  stated)  for  two  hours,  during  which 
time  they  were  not  altogether  at  ease,  being  obliged 
to  endure  the  pelting  of  a  rain-storm.  On  entering, 
they  found  him  lying  upon  his  couch.  He  noticed 
them,  not  very  cordially,  for  the  purpose  of  referring 
them  to  Pessacus;  and  for  him  they  waited  four 
hours  more.  When  he  came,  he  took  them  into  a 
shabby  wigwam,  and  kept  them  talking  with  him 
most  of  the  night.  On  the  whole,  he  appeared  de 
termined  to  wage  war  on  Uncas  forthwith  ;  not  in 
the  manner  of  Miantonomo,  but  by  sending  out 
small  war-parties,  to  cut  off  the  straggling  Mohe- 
gans,  and  to  interfere  with  their  hunting  and  fishing. 

There  is  reason  to  believe,  that  he  either  had  taken, 
or  was  about  taking  some  measures  in  pursuance 
of  this  scheme  ;  and  that  the  message  of  the  com 
missioners  was  therefore  rather  as  much  in  conse 
quence  as  in  anticipation  of  his  acts.  On  the  23d. 
of  April,  messengers  came  to  Boston  from  POMHAM, 
(a  chief,  hereafter  noticed  at  length,  who  had  put 
himself  under  the  Massachusetts  protection,)  with  in 
telligence  that  the  Narraghansetts  had  captured  and 
killed  six  Mohegan  men  and  five  women  ;  and  had 
sent  him  two  hands  and  a  foot,  to  engage  him  in  the 
war.  If  this  statement  was  true — and  we  know  no 
particular  reason  for  doubting  it — the  commissioners 
might  certainly  consider  themselves  fortunate  in 
checking  hostilities,  so  far  as  they  did  in  September. 

They  convened  again,  at  Boston,  early  in  1645 ; 
and  messengers  were  again  sent  to  the  Narraghan- 
Betts,  with  directions  afterwards  to  visit  the  Mohe- 
gans,  inviting  all  the  sachems  to  meet  them  fora  new 
adjustment  of  difficulties.  The  instructions  given 
to  these  men*  imply,  that  the  commissioners  supposed 
Pessacus  to  be  in  a  state  of  warfare  with  Uncas  at 

*  See  records  of  the  United  Colonies.     Hazard. 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  211 

that  time — whether  it  was  now  past  "  plantmg-iyme," 
or  not — but  the  same  records  show  that  the  messen 
gers  brought  back  "  a  letter  from  Mr.  Roger  Williams 
wherein  hee  assures  vs  the  warr  would  presently 
break  forth  and  that  the  Narrohiggansett  sachims 
had  lately  concluded  a  neutrallyty  with  Providence 
and  the  Townes  upon  Aquidnett  [Rhode]  Island." 

It  would  seem,  then,  that  the  treaty  was  not  yet 
broken — when  the  messengers  were  sent.  Pessacua 
at  first  told  them,  that  he  would  attend  the  commis 
sioners'  summons,  and  that  meanwhile  there  should 
be  no  operations  against  Uncas ;  but  he  soon  after 
wards  said,  that  his  mind  was  changed.  They  then 
went  to  Ninigret.  He  expressed  great  discontent  on 
account  of  certain  military  assistance  which  the 
English  had  sent  to  defend  Uncas ;  and  threatened 
haughtily,  (said  the  messengers)  that  unless  that  force 
were  withdrawn,  he  should  consider  it  a  violation  of 
the  treaty.  "He  would  procure  as  many  Mow- 
hauques  as  the  English  should  afront  [meet]  them 
with,  that  would  lay  the  English  cattell  on  heapes  as 
heigh  as  their  houses,  and  no  Englishman  should 
stir  out  of  his  doore  but  he  should  be  killed." 

After  meeting  such  a  reception  here,  the  messen 
gers  were  afraid  to  set  out  for  the  Mohegan  country, 
and  they  therefore  went  back  to  Pessacus,  and  re 
quested  him  to  furnish  them  with  a  guide.  He  offered 
them  an  old  Pequot  squaw — in  derision  (as  they  sup 
posed) — and  even  while  they  were  speaking,  several 
of  his  Indians  who  stood  close  behind  him,  appeared 
to  them  to  be  frowning  rather  grimly,  besides  brand 
ishing  their  hatchets  in  a  most  ominous  manner. 

"  Wherevpon,"  [on  the  return  of  the  messengers] 
says  the  Report,  "the  commissioners  considering 
the  great  provocations  offered  and  the  necessyty  we 
should  be  put  unto  of  making  warr  vpon  the  jVarro- 
higgansets  ^c."  it  was  agreed,"  First,  that  our  engage 
ment  bound  us  to  ayde  and  defende  the  Mohegan 
Sachem.  2dly,  That  this  ayde  could  not  be  intend 
ed  onely  to  defend  him  and  his  in  his  fort  or  habita 


218  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

COD,  but  (according  to  the  common  acceptacon  of 
such  covenants  or  engagements  considered  with 
the  fraude  or  occasion  thereof)  so  to  ayde  him  as 
hee  might  be  preserved  in  his  liberty  and  estate. 
3dly,  That  this  ayde  must  be  speedy  least  he  might 
bee  swallowed  vp  in  the  meane  tyme  and  so  come 
too  late." 

The  engagement  here  alluded  to  was  made  at 
Hartford  in  these  words :  "  That  if  they  assualt  Vncus 
the  English  are  engaged  to  assist  him."  Whether 
they  had  assaulted  him  or  not — whether,  if  they  had, 
it  was  under  circumstances  which  started  such  a 
casus  f&deris  as  to  justify  the  English  interference — 
and  whether,  under  any  circumstances,  the  latter 
could  justify  sending  an  expedition  designed  "  not 
onely  to  ayde  the  Mohegaus  but  to  offend  the  Nar- 
rohiggansets  Nyanticks  and  other  their  confede 
rates"* — need  not  now  be  discussed.  Nor  shall  we 
inquire  whether  any  blame  was  chargeable,  on  the 
other  hand,  to  Uncas,  as  having  himself  secretly  pro 
voked  hostilities — which,  it  may  be  observed,  is  a 
matter  that  in  its  nature  cannot  easily  be  deter 
mined 

Preparations  were  made  for  a  war ;  but,  at  the 
suggestion  of  some  of  the  Massachusetts  Govern 
ment,  it  was  concluded  to  make  still  another  of 
fer  of  compromise  to  the  Narraghansetts,  returning 
at  the  same  time,  by  way  of  manifesto,  the  present  of 
wampum  'long  since  sent  and  left  by  messengers 
from  Piscus  [Pessacus].'  A  conference  took  place 
between  some  of  the  messengers  and  some  of  the  Sa 
chems,  at  which  Mr.  Williams  officiated  as  interpreter^ 
and  the  result  was  almost  necessarily  pacific.  Seve 
ral  of  the  allegations  of  the  English  ('  which  Bene 
dict  upon  oath  had  formerly  certified'!)  were  denied, 

*"  Instructions  for  Serjeant  Major  Edward  Gibbons,  corn- 
maunder  in  chief  of  our  military  forces  and  for  such  as  at  e 
joyned  to  him  as  a  counsell  of  warr."  Hazard. 

^Report  of  Commissiontrg,  16-45.  Benedict  Arnold  i§ 
here  referred  to,  a  |>erson  employed  as  rnesseng er  for  a  long 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  219 

says  the  commissioners'  Report,  and  others  excused 
and  as  the  English  desired  further  conference,  it  was 
agreed  "that  Pissicus  chiefe-sachem  of  the  Narra- 
ghansetts  and  Mixano  Canownacus  his  eldest  sonn 
and  others  should  forthwith  come  to  Bostone  to 
treat  with  the  commissioners  for  the  restoreing  and 
eettleing  of  peace." 

This  promise  was  faithfully  kept.  The  sachems 
just  named,  with  a  Niantick  deputy,  made  their 
appearance  at  Boston  within  a  few  days,  followed 
by  a  long  train  of  attendants.  Some  altercation 
took  place  between  them  and  the  commissioners,  in 
the  course  of  which  the  latter  charged  them  (as  the 
Report  shows,)  that,  notwithstanding  the  Hartford 
treaty,  "they  had  this  summer  (1645)  at  severall  tymes 
invaded  Vncus  &c."  At  length,  with  great  reluc 
tance,  and  "  after  long  debate  and  some  private  con- 
terrence  they  had  with  Sergeant  Cullicutt  they 
acknowledged  they  had  brooken  promise  or  cove 
nant  in  the  aforemenconed  warrs."  They  then 
offered  to  make  another  truce,  but  that  not  satisfy 
ing  the  commissioners,  they  wished  to  know  what 
would.  Upon  which  the  commissioners,  "to  show 
their  modcracon  required  of  them  but  twoo  thou 
sand  fathome  of  white  wampon  for  their  oune  satis- 
faccon,"  beside  their  restoring  the  boats  and  prison 
ers  taken  from  Uncas,  and  making  reparation  for  all 
damages.  A  treaty,  containing  these  and  other 
stipulations,  and  providing  that  the  payment  of 
one  instalment  should  be  made  in  twenty  days,  was 
drawn  up  and  finally  subscribed  by  all  the  deputies. 
Four  hostages  were  given  for  security,  including  a 
sou  of  Pessacus ;  the  English  army  was  disbanded ; 
the  sachems  returned  home ;  and  the  4th  of  Septem 
ber,  which  had  been  appointed  for  a  fast,  was  now 
ordered  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving. 

«eries  of  years.  He  seems  to  have  been  in  this  case  the  only 
witness  against  the  Sachems;  and  what  hi?  testimony  amount 
ed  to.  we  have  already  seen 


220  INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

We  have  thought  it  the  less  necessary  to  specify 
all  the  provisions  of  this  « treaty,'  inasmuch  as  the 
circumstances  under  which  it  was  made,  amo  int,  as 
appears  to  us,  to  such  a  duress  as  not  only  must 
have  greatly  exasperated  the  Sachems,  but  clearly 
invalidated  the  treaty  itself.  This  point,  however, 
we  shall  leave  to  be  decided  by  every  reader  who 
will  trouble  himself  to  become  familiar  with  those 
minutiae  which  cannot  here  be  stated.  It  is  suffi 
cient  to  add,  that  the  Report  itself,  as  above  cited, 
shows  the  consideration  (so  to  speak)  upon  which 
the  whole  transaction  was  founded,  to  have  failed, 
or  rather  never  to  have  existed.  The  *  acknowledge 
ments,'  indeed,  like  the  agreements,  under  the  cir 
cumstances  we  count  nothing;  but  even  these,  as 
the  commissioners  state  them,  only  intimate  that  the 
Narraghansetts  had  invaded  Uncas  '  this  summer 
— that  is,  (for  aught  we  are  told)  subsequent  to  *  plant- 
ing-tyme,'  when  the  former  treaty  expired — and  not 
then  without  previous  and  repeated  declarations  to 
tne  English,  as  we  have  seen,  of  their  intended 
movements.  No  remarks  need  be  made  upon  the 
invasion  of  the  English,  or  upon  the  requisitions 
on  the  deputies  at  Boston. 

One  provision  of  the  treaty  was,  that  the  Narra 
ghansetts  should  meet  Uncas  at  New  Haven  in  1646, 
which  they  failed  to  do,  though  Uncas  himself  at 
tended  the  meeting  of  the  commissioners  at  that 
place.  Nor  did  they  make  their  payments  of  wam 
pum  according  to  promise.  Three  instalments,  to 
the  amount  of  one  thousand  three  hundred  fathoms, 
being  now  due,  they  sent  into  Boston  one  hundred 
fathoms — mostly,  it  is  said  in  *  old  kettles  '—excusing 
themselves  on  the  score  of  poverty  and  the  failure 
of  the  Nian ticks  to  contribute  their  proportion.  So 
email  a  sum  the  commissioners  would  not  accept ; 
and  the  messengers  who  brought  it  therefore  sold 
their  kettles  to  a  Boston  brazier,  and  deposited  the 
money  in  his  hands,  to  be  paid  over  when  they 
should  bring  the  residue  of  the  debt.  Messengers 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  221 

were  sent  for  Pessacus,  but  he  failed  to  make  his 
appearance. 

The  summons  being  repeated  in  1647,  on  the 
31st  of  July,  "Thomas  Stanton  returned  with 
Pessacks  ansvvere  as  folio wiuge.  Pessack  being 
charged  for  not  meeting  the  commissioners  at  New 
Haven  the  last  yeare,  his  answere  was,  he  had  no 
warninge.  It  is  true,  said  he,  I  have  broken  my 
covenant  these  two  years,  and  it  is  and  hath  been 
the  constant  griefe  of  my  spirit.  2dly,  The  reason 
why  he  doth  not  come  at  this  time  is,  because  he 
hath  bene  sicke  and  is  now  sicke ;  had  I  bene  but 
pretty  well,  said  he,  I  would  have  come  to  them." 
He  also  stated,  that  he  when  the  last  treaty  was  made, 
he  had  acted  in  fear  of  the  English  army  ;*  and  he 
proposed  to  send  Ninigret  to  Boston  forthwith,  with 
full  authority  to  treat  in  his  own  name. 

Ninigret  accordingly  came  on  the  3d  of  August. 
When  the  commissioners  demanded  an  explanation 
of  his  past  defaults,  he  at  first  affected  ignorance  of 
what  agreements  had  been  made  by  the  Narraghan 
setts.  He  then  argued  the  matter,  and  inquired 
upon  what  pretence  the  alleged  debt  was  originally 
founded.  He  was  reminded  of  all  the  old  subjects 
of  complaint,  including  his  own  declarations  of  hos 
tility  towards  the  English.  In  respect  to  the  latter, 
he  said  that  the  messengers  had  given  him  provo 
cation.  As  to  the  money,  he  considered  it  impossible 
ever  to  pay  it,  but  nevertheless  wished  to  know  how 
the  reckoning  now  stood.  It  appeared,  on  exami 
nation,  that  Pessacus  had  paid  seventy  fathoms  of 
wampum  the  first  year.  As  for  the  kettles  sold  to 

*  Report  of  the  coinin.  for  1647.  "  He  doth  say  when  he 
made  his  covenant  he  did  it  in  feare  of  the  army  that  he  did 
see,  and  tho'  the  English  kept  their  covenant  with  him  there 
and  let  him  go  from  them,  yet  the  army  was  to  goe  to  Narra- 
gensett  ymmediately  and  "kill  him  there,  therefore  said  the 
commissioners  sett  your  hands  to  such  and  such  things  or  el* 
the  army  shall  goe  "forth  to  the  IS'jirragensetts."  Excellently 
well  stated! 


222  IX  1)1  AX    BIOGRAPHY. 

the  braziers,  that  property  had  since  been  attached 
by  one  Woddy,  a  Boston  man,  for  goods  stolen  from 
him  by  a  Narraghansett  Indian.  Ninigret  excepted 
to  this  procedure.  It  was  neither  the  property  of 
Pessacus,  he  said,  nor  of  the  thief;  it  was  deposited 
as  part  payment  of  the  debt,  and  ought  so  to  be  re 
ceived.  Having  gained  this  point,  he  next  proposed 
that  credit  should  be  given  him  for  one  hundred  and 
five  fathoms,  sent  by  the  hand  of  an  Indian  named 
Cutchamaquin.*  It  was  rejoined,  that  the  sum  refer 
red  to  had  been  intended  as  a  present  to  the  Gover 
nor.  Ninigret,  "  being  pressed  to  chare  the  questions 
himselfe,  he  answered,  his  tounge  should  not  belye  his 
heart,  let  the  debt  be  satisjied  as  it  may — he  intended  it 
for  the  Governoure."  He  had  sent  ten  fathoms  to 
Cutchamaquin  for  his  own  trouble  ;  but  that  covetous 
Indian,  unsatisfied  with  so  liberal  a  commission,  had 
appropriated  all  but  forty-five  fathoms  to  his  own 
use  and  'lied'  about  the  residue.  The  facts  came  out 
upon  a  cross-examination,  instituted  by  Ninigret 
in  presence  of  the  commissioners.! 

*  Whom  we  suppose  to  be  the  Sachem  of  Braintree,  (near 
Boston),  so  well  known  for  his  violent  opposition  to  Mr.  El 
liot's  preaching,  and  called  also  Kitchrnakin  and  some  half 
dozen  other  names.  He  submitted  to  the  Massachusetts! 
Government  in  1643.  IVeal  says,  that  soon  after  his  appear 
ing  at  Mr.  Elliot's  lecture,  and  protesting  against  the  building 
of  a  town  for  the  Christian  Indians  in  what  he  considered  his 
dominions,  *  he  himself  turned  Christian.'  But  that  reverend 
missionary  does  not  himself  state  quite  so  much.  In  that  old 
tract,  THE  LIGHT  APPEARING  &c.  he  says,  that  after  a 
certain  pungent  discourse  which  he  took  occasion  to  level  at  the 
Sachem,  and  not  long  after  his  remonstrance  just  mentioned, 
"  Elder  Heath  his  observation  of  him  was,  that  there  was  a 
^reat  change  in  him,  his  spirit  was  very  much  lightned,  and 
it  much  appeared  both  in  his  countenance  and  carriage,  and 
he  hath  carried  all  things  fairly  ever  since."  We  are 
glad  to  leave  him  thus — he  died  soon  after  his  reformation. 

t  Hazard  Vol.  II.  p.  80  (quarto  3d.  Phil.  1794)  "  Hereupon 
Cutchamaquin  was  sent  for  and  before  Ninegrate  questioned 
Sic.  He  at  first  persisted,  and  added  to  his  I  VPS,  but  was  at  las< 


INDIAN    BIOGR.iPUY. 

He  then  asked  time  to  give  in  his  final  answer,  and 
the  commissioners  allowed  him  a  day.  Having  con 
sulted  meanwhile  with  his  companions,  he  appear 
ed  the  next  morning  again.  He  was  sorry  to  find, 
he  said,  that  the  burden  of  the  business  had  been 
shifted  from  the  shoulders  of  Pessacus  upon  his  own, 
but  he  had  determined  to  do  what  he  could ;  and 
he  would  therefore  send  some  of  his  men  home  to 
collect  the  arrears  due  to  the  English.  In  the  course 
of  three  days  he  should  know  the  result,  and  in  ten 
he  thought  the  wampum  might  be  forwarded.  He 
would  himself  remain  at  Boston  till  that  time,  and 
send  word  to  the  Narraghansetts  of  the  arrangement. 
"  But  if  the  collection,"  he  added,  "  should  fall  short 
of  the  sum  due,  he  desired  some  forbearance,  being 
sure  that  the  residue  would  be  shortly  paid,  and  that 
the  English  would  at  all  events  perceive  his  great 
desire  to  give  them  entire  satisfaction."  The  com 
missioners  accepted  these  proposals,  and  Ninigret 
despatched  his  messenger. 

They  returned  on  the  16th  of  the  month,  bin 
brought  only  two  hundred  fathom  of  wampum.  Thf? 
commissoners  complained  of  this  new  default,  and 
Ninigret  was  a  little  embarrassed.  He  said,  it  musi 
be  owing  to  his  own  absence  ;  but  as  it  was,  he 
wished  that  the  wampurn  intended,  but  not  yet  re 
ceived,  as  a  present  to  the  Governor,  should  go  in  part 
payment  of  the  debt.  For  the  remainder,  he  desired 
a  respite  till  the  next  spring,  when,  if  it  were  not  fully 
paid,  the  English  should  have  his  country  and  his 
head.*  The  commissioners  accordingly  gave  him 

convinced  by   Ninegrate  &c."     A  good  illustration  of  the  im 
propriety  of  giving  implicit  credit  in  such  cases. 

*  The  account,  which  may  be  considered  a  curiosity,  now 
stood  thus. 

Mr.  Pelham  received  allmost  two  veares  since,  )-«/., 

above  what  was' given  Vncus  \    70  fathoine 
Left  by  the  Narnighansetts  in  Mr.  Shrimpton's  >    -«  ,.   , 

hands,  in  kettles  and  wampum  )         lauJome 
In  Cutchameqv ill's  hands  bv  IX'inegrett  100   d« 


224  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

eave  to  return  home,  and  allowed  him  twenty  days 
for  sending  in  one  thousand  fathoms  ;  if  he  failed,  he 
must  suffer  the  consequences.  If  he  did  what  he 
could,  and  Pessacus  failed,  as  heretofore  he  had  done, 
they  should  punish  /urn,  and  expect  Ninigret's  as 
sistance. 

At  their  meeting  in  1648,  the  commissioners  re 
ceived  information  of  new  movements  of  Pessacus 
and  Ninigret,  in  disturbance  of  the  common  peace. 
Both  sachems  were  said  to  be  withdrawing  their  old 
men,  women  and  children  into  swamps,  hiding  their 
corn,  and  preparing  for  the  reception  of  the  Mohawk, 
whom  they  had  engaged  to  assist  them.  The  inva 
ding  army  was  to  consist  of  eight  hundred  men.  The 
Mohawks  had  four  hundred  guns,  and  three  pounds 
of  powder  to  a  gun.  Ninigret  had  made  inquiry 
whether  the  English  would  probably  defend  Uncas, 
and  seemed  to  calculate,  in  that  case,  upon  the  ne 
cessity  of  fighting  them.  The  Pocomtock  tribe  were 
also  engaged  to  assist  him.  But  both  these  and  the 
Mohawks  were  finally  discouraged  from  under 
taking  the  expedition,  by  the  prospect  of  having  to 
contend  with  the  English. 

But  depredations  were  soon  after  committed  by 
some  of  the  Narraghansetts  upon  the  English  ;  and 
as  for  Uncas,  the  hostility  against  him  was  carried  so 
far,  that  he  came  very  near  losing  his  life  by  an 
Indian  hired  to  assassinate  him,  having  been  run 
through  the  breast  with  a  sword,  as  he  was  going 
on  board  a  vessel  in  the  river  Thames.  At  the  com 
missioners'  meeting  in  1649,  he  appeared,  laid  his 
complaints  before  them,  and  demanded  the  protection 
of  his  ally.  Ninigret  also  presented  himself.  As  to 
hiring  the  Indian  to  assassinate  Uncas,  he  observed, 
the  confession  of  the  criminal  himself  was  the  only 
evidence  in  the  case,  and  that  was  forced  from  him 

Received  of  Ninegrett  16.  Aug.  1647.  24&i  <k 

The  Bum  being  448] 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  225 

oy  the  Mohegans.  As  to  the  arrears  of  warnpum,  of 
which  much  was  said,  he  thought  there  had  been  a 
mistake  in  the  measure,  and  that  only  two  hundred 
fathoms  were  due,  while  the  English  at  this  time  ac 
knowledged  the  receipt  of  only  one  thousand  five 
hundred  twenty-nine  and  a  half  in  the  whole.  But 
the  commissioners  were  dissatisfied  with  his  answer ; 
and  they  therefore  once  more  set  themselves  to  mak 
ing  vigorous  preparations  for  war. 

The  measures  adopted  in  1650,  may  be  learned 
from  the  following  passage  of  the  commissioner's 
record  for  that  year.  "  Taking  into  consideration 
the  seueral  offensiue  practices  of  the  Narraghausetts 
whereby  they  have  broken  their  couenents  and  en- 
deauoured  to  disturbe  the  peace  betweene  the  English 
and  themselves ;  and  how  they  yet  delay  to  pay  the 
warnpum  which  hath  been  so  long  due  [having  sent 
but  one  hundred  fathom  since  the  last  meeting  at 
Boston :]  it  was  therefore  thought  meet  to  keepe  the 
colonies  from  falling  into  contempt,  among  the  Indi 
ans,  and  to  preuent  their  improuing  said  wampum 
to  hire  other  Indians  to  joyne  with  themselves  against 
vs  or  Vncas,  that  twenty  men  well  armed  bee  sent 
out  of  the  Jurisdiccon  of  Massachusetts  to  Pessicus 
to  demand  the  said  Wampum  which  is  three  hundred 
and  eight  fathom,  and  vpon  Refusall  or  Delay  to 
take  the  same  or  to  the  Vallew  thereof  in  the  best 
goods  they  can  find  ;  Together  with  so  much  as  will 
satisfy  for  their  charges  &c." 

The  messengers  were  farther  instructed  to  go  to 
Ninigret,  and  make  the  following  complaints.  1. 
That  the  commissioners  were  told  he  had  married 
his  daughter  to  the  brother  of  the  old  Pequot  chiefj 
Sassacus,  and  had  made  some  pretensions  to  the 
Pequot  territory.  2.  That  Weekwnsh  Cooke  had 
complained  to  them  of  certain  grievances  received  at 
his  hands.  3.  "That  about  twelve  years  sence  a 
Mare  belonging  to  Elty  Pomary  of  Winsor  in  Con- 
necticatt  was  killed  wilfully  by  Pequiam  a  Nyantick 
Indian  brother  to  Ntnegrett.  which  Mare  cost  twenty 

10—15 


226  INDIAN     BlOCiKAPHY 

nine  pounds,  for  which  satisfaccon  hath  often  been  re 
quired.''^.  They  were  then  to  demand  payment 
of  all  charges  due  the  English,  and  as  also  categorical 
answers  to  a  certain  list  of  questions. 

The  party  sent  out  by  Massachusetts  in  pursuance 
of  these  orders  was  commanded  by  Major  Atherton. 
On  meeting  with  Pessacus,  and  stating  the  purpo 
ses  of  his  visit,  some  altercation  ensued.  As  the 
Narraghansett  warriors  meanwhile  appeared  to  be 
collecting  around  him,  Atherton  marched  directly  to 
the  door  of  his  wigwam,  posted  a  guard  there,  enter 
ed  himself  with  his  pistol  in  hand,  seized  Pessacus 
by  his  hair,  and  drawing  him  out  from  among  his 
attendants,  declared  he  would  despatch  him  instantly 
on  perceiving  the  least  attempt  for  his  rescue.  This 
bold  stroke  made  such  an  impression,  that  all  arreara 
ges  were  paid  on  the  spot.  Atherton  then  visited  Nin- 
igret,  and  having  stated  the  accusations,  suspicions 
and  threats  of  the  commissioners — though  without 
obtaining  any  farther  satisfaction — returned  home.* 

In  1653,  the  commissioners  sent  messengers  to 
demand  of  Ninigret,  Pessacus  and  Mexham,  answers 
to  the  following  questions.  They  are  given  in  full, 
as  a  curious  illustration  both  of  the  policy  of  the  for 
mer  and  the  character  of  the  latter.  The  object  and 
occasion  are  sufficiently  manifest  on  the  face  of  them. 

1.  Whether  the  Duch  Governor  hath  engaged  him 
[Ninigret]  and  others  to  healp  them  to  fight  against 
the  English,  and  how  many  ? 

2.  Whether  the  Duch  Governor  did  not  attempt 
such  a  Conspiracy  ? 

3.  Whether  hee  [Ninigret]  hath  not  received  of  the 
Duch  Governor  guns  powder  bullets  and  swords  or 
any  ammunition   to   that  end;  and   how  much  or 
many  of  the  said  provision  for  warr? 

4.  What  other  sachems  or  Indians  to  his  Rnowl- 
idg  that  are  so  engaged  ? 

*  Trumbull's  expression  is — "  Having  in  this  spirited  man 
ner  Accomplished  his  business,  he  returned  in  safet\ ."  Hit 
tory  of  Conn.  Vol.  I. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  227 

5.  Whether  himselfe  or  the  Rest  are  Resolved  ac 
cording  to   theire  engagement  to  fight  against  the 
English  ? 

6.  If  hee  bee  Resolved  of  his  way  what  he  thinks 
the  English  will  do? 

7.  Whether  it  bee  not  safest  for  him  and  his  men 
to  be  true  to  the  English  ? 

8.  Whether  the  Duch  hath  engaged  to  healp  him 
and  the  Rest  of  the  Indians  against  the  English? 

9.  If  hee  haue  engaged  against  us  to  aske  vpon 
what  grounds  and  what  wrong  wee  haue  donu  him  ? 

10.  Whether  hee  thinks  it  meet  to  com  or  send 
his  messengers  to  give  satisfaction  concerning  these 
queries  ? 

11.  Whether  hee  hath  hiered  the  Mohakes  to  healp 
him  against  us  ? 

The  answer  of  Mexham,  as  reported  by  the  mes 
sengers,  to  the  first  question,  was  thus.  "  I  speak 
vnfeignedly  from  my  hart  without  Dessimulation  that 
I  know  of  noe  such  plott  that  is  intended  or  ploted 
by  the  Duch  Governour  against  the  English  my 
frinds.  Though  I  bee  poor  it  is  not  goods  guns 
powder  nor  shottthat  shall  draw  mee  to  such  a  plott." 
Pessacus  said,  "I  am  very  tbankfull  to  these  two 
men  that  came  from  the  Massachusetts  and  to  you 
Thomas  and  to  you  Poll  and  to  you  Mr.  Smith  that 
are  come  soe  fare  as  from  the  Bay  to  bring  vs  this 
message,  and  to  enforme  vs  of  these  things  wee  knew 
not  of  before" 

To  the  second,  Mexham  answered  *  No.'  Pessacus 
KU!  I,  "that  for  the  Governor  of  the  Duch,  wee  ate 
loth  to  Inuent  any  falsehood  of  him,  though  we  bee 
far  off  from  him,  to  please  the  English  or  any  other 
that  bring  these  Reports.  The  Duch  Governor  did 
never  propound  such  a  thing."  He  also  represented 
the  evident  folly  of  his  leagueing  with  a  remote  people 
against  his  nearest  neighbors.  He  gave  a  negative 
to  the  fifth  question.  The  sixth  he  supposed  to 
be  already  answered.  To  the  seventh,  he  said, 
"  wee  desire  to  keepe  it  [peace]  feirmly  to  our 


223  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

Hieing  day  as  neare  as  we  can."  The  eighth  and 
ninth,  both  Mexham  and  Pessacus  thought  they  had 
answered  already.  As  to  the  tenth,  they  replied, 
that  Pessacus  was  too  old*  to  "trauell  two  dales 
together,  but  they  would  send  some  men  into  the 
Massachusetts  to  speak  with  [tell]  the  Sachems  that 
they  had  sent  to  Mr.  Smith  and  Voll  his  man  to 
speake  to  Mr.  Browne  that  they  loved  the  English 
sachems  and  all  English  in  the  Bay."  The  charge 
implied  in  the  last  query  they  absolutely  denied. 

The  answers  of  Ninigret,  which  were  given  sepa 
rately,  are  the  more  worthy  of  notice  that  he  was 
known  to  have  visited  New  York  during  the  previous 
winter,  and  had  been  accused  by  various  Indians, 
including  some  of  the  Mohegans,  of  having  formed 
an  alliance  with  the  Dutch  against  the  English.  He 
utterly  disclaimed  such  conduct.  "  But,"  he  added, 
"  whiles  I  was  there  att  the  Indian  Wigwames  there 
cam  som  Indians  that  told  mee  there  was  a  shipp 
com  in  from  Holland,  which  did  report  the  English 
and  Duch  were  fighting  together  in  theire  owne 
countrey,  and  theire  were  severall  other  shippes 
cominge  with  amunition  to  fight  against  the  English 
heer,  and  that  there  would  bee  a  great  blow  given  to 
them,  but  this  (said  he,)  /  had  from  the  Indians,  and  1 
cannot  tell  how  true  it  is."  Next,  four  queries  were 
answered  in  the  negative.  As  to  the  sixth,  "  What 
shall  I  answare  these  things  over  and  over  again? 
What  doe  the  English  thinke  that  I  thinke  they  bee 
asleep  and  suffer  mee  to  do  them  wronge  ?  Doe  we 
not  know  they  are  not  a  sleepy  people  ?  The  English 
make  queries  for  gunpowder,  and  shot  and  swords 
Do  they  thinke  wee  are  mad  to  sell  our  lieus  and  the 
liues  of  all  our  wiues  and  children  and  all  our  kin- 
dred,  and  to  haue  our  countrey  destroyed  for  a  few 
guns  powder  shott  and  swords?  What  will  they 
doe  vs  good  when  wee  are  dead?"  The  eighth, 
ninth,  and  eleventh,  were  denied.  To  the  seventh  he 

*  Probably  meant  for  too  til. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  229 

replied,  tnat  he  knew  no  reason  for  breaking  his 
league  with  his  old  friends  the  English  ;  and  why 
should  he  ally  himself  to  a  few  Dutchmen,  so  far  off, 
when  he  lived  next  door  to  them  ?  The  answer  to 
the  tenth  would  puzzle  the  most  mystifying  politician 
of  modern  times.  "  It  being  indifferently  spoken 
whether  hee  may  goe  or  send  yet  hee  knowing 
nothing  by  himselfe  wherein  hee  hath  wronged  the 
English  but  that  hee  may  goe  yet  being  Indifferently 
spoken  hee  would  send  to  speak  with  the  English."* 
Letters  having  been  also  sent  to  the  sachems 
from  the  commissioners,  Pessacus  and  Mexham  sent 
word  in  return,  that  they  wished  for  a  good  under 
standing,  and  hoped  it  might  be  preserved.  They 
requested,  furthermore,  that  the  English  would  make 
known  the  names  of  their  accusers,  and  the  other 
sources  of  their  information  respecting  their  alleged 
league  with  the  Dutch.  Ninigret  replied  as  follows : 
"  You  are  kindly  welcom  to  vs  and  I  kindly  thanke 
the  Sachems  [magistrates]  of  the  Massachusetts  that 
they  would  Nominate  my  Name  amongst  the  other 
to  require  my  answare  to  the  propositions :  had  any 
of  the  other  Sachems  been  att  the  Duch  I  should 
have  feared  theire  folly  might  have  donn  some  hurt 
one  way  or  other,  but  they  have  not  been  there.  1 
am  the  Man  that  haue  bene  there  myselfc,  therefore  I 
must  answare  for  what  I  haue  doun.  I  doe  utterley 
deney  and  protest  against  any  such  acteings  doun  by 
mee  or  to  my  knowlidge  att  or  with  the  Duch. 
What  is  the  story  of  these  great  Rumersthat  I  hear  att 
Pocatocke,  that  I  should  bee  cut  off  and  that  the  English 
had  a  quart  ell  against  mec.  I  know  of  noe  such  cause 
att  all  for  my  parte.  Is  it  because  I  went  thither  to  take 
Phisicke  for  my  healthe  ?  Or  what  is  the  cause  I 
found  noe  such  entertainment  from  the  Duch  Gov- 
ernour,  when  I  was  there  to  giue  mee  any  Incor- 

*  We  copy  punctuatim,  from  the  Records  of  the  Unitei 
Colonies,  as  preserved  in  Hazard's  Collections.  Perhaps  tin 
Itterpreter  was  to  blame  for  this  problematical  sentence 


230  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

ragement  to  sturr  mee  upp  to  such  a  league  against 
the  English  my  friends.  It  was  winter- time,  and  I 
stood  a  great  parte  of  a  day  knocking  at  the  Govern 
or's  dore,  and  he  would  neither  open  it  nor  suffer 
others  open  it  to  lett  mee  in.  I  was  not  wont  to  find 
such  carriage  from  the  English  my  frinds."  The 
messenger  promised  to  he  sent  hy  Pessacus  was  sent 
accordingly.  The  English  examined  him  very 
ckwely  but  ascertained  nothing  new 


INDIAN    B1OGRAPHV  231 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Sequel  of  the  lives  of  Ninigret  and  Pessacus,  from  1653 — 
Various  accusations,  deputations,  and  hostile  movements 
between  them  and  the  English — Controversy  between  Nini 
gret  and  Harmon  Garrett — Application  for  justice  in  1675 — 
Conduct  of  Ninigret  in  Philip's  War — Consequences  of  it — 
His  death — Death  of  Pessacus — 'Some  of  the  charges  against 
the  former  considered — His  hostility  to  Uncas,  and  the 
Long  Islanders,  and  '  League  with  the  Dutch'— Remarks  on 
his  character. 

IN  September,  1653,  new  complaints  were  made 
against  the  Narraghansett  and  Niantick  Sachems. 
It  was  reported  to  the  commissioners,  that  they  had 
attacked  the  Long  Island  Indians,  and  slain  two 
Sachems  and  thirty  others.  This  was  deemed  a  case 
requiring  their  interference;  and  messengers  were 
forthwith  despatched  as  usual,  to  demand  explanation 
and  satisfaction,  on  penalty  that  the  commissioners 
would  otherwise  "  proceed  as  they  should  find  cause." 
These  men  executed  their  errand,  and  returned  on 
the  19th  of  the  month.  According  to  their  own 
account,  they  were  not  very  graciously  received,  as 
indeed  it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  they  should  be. 

They  declared  upon  oath  that,  on  entering  the 
Niantick  country,  they  saw  about  forty  or  fifty 
Indians,  all  in  arms,  who  came  up  to  them  as  they 
rode  by  ;  and  the  leader  having  a  gun  in  his  hand, 
"  did,  in  the  presence  of  Thomas  Staunton  Serjeant 
Waite  and  Vallenty ne  Whitman,  put  his  hand  back 
as  if  hee  would  have  cocked  it ;  Richard  Waite  said 
this  man  will  shoote ;  whervpon  the  English  men 
faced  about,  Rode  vp  to  the  said  Indians,  asked  what 
they  intended  to  doe  and  bedd  them  goe  before, 
which  some  of  them  did  but  others  would  not ;  and 
particularly  the  said  Captaine  Refused.  The  English 
rode  on  in  the  way  towards  Ninigrett,  but  coming  vp 
into  the  Woods,  the  former  company  of  Indians  first 


232  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

fell  on  shouting  in  a  triumphing  way.  After  the 
English  Messengers  came  to  a  greater  company  of 
Indians  all  armed,  whoe  comaund  them  to  stand  to 
alight  and  to  tye  there  horses  to  a  tree  showed  them, 
which  the  Messengers  refused  to  doe.  The  Indians 
then  strove  to  becompase  the  English,  which  they 
would  not  suffer,  but  being  Informed  that  Ninnigrett 
would  come  thither  they  stayed  awhile,  but  Ninnigrett 
riot  coming  the  English  tould  the  Indians  that  if  they 
might  neither  passe  nor  Ninnigrett  come  then  they 
would  return  home.  The  Indians  answared  hee 
would  com  presently,  but  hee  not  coming  the  English 
rode  forward  and  mett  Ninnigrett ;  the  Indians  run 
ning  on  both  sides  hollowing,  the  English  Messen 
gers  made  a  stand,  when  they  mett  Ninnigrett  have- 
ing  many  armed  men  with  him  and  him  selfe  a  pistoll 
in  his  hand.  Ninnigrett  sat  doune  and  desired  them 
to  alight  which  they  did.  The  Indians  then  sur 
rounded  them  and  som  of  them  charged  their  guns 
with  powder  and  bullets  and  som  primed  their  guns. 
The  English  in  the  meen  time  delivering  their  mes 
sage  to  Ninnigrett  his  men  were  so  Tumultus  in 
speaking  especially  one  whoe  they  said  was  a  Mo 
hauke  that  they  were  much  desturbed."* 

The  messengers  were  afterwards  informed  by  one 
of  Ninigret's  chief  men,  "  that  the  aforementioned 
Mohauke  came  to  see  what  news,  for  they  heard  that 
the  English  were  coming  to  warr  against  the  Narra- 
ghansetts,  which  if  true  the  Mohaukes  take  what  is 
doun  against  the  Narraghansetts  as  doun  against 
themselues."  After  leaving  Ninigret,  two  Indians, 
with  bows  and  arrows  in  their  hands,  came  running 
out  of  the  woods,  and  roughly  demanded  of  Staunton 
whither  he  was  going,  when  he  was  coming  back, 
and  which  way  he  should  come. — Upon  this  report, 
the  commissioners  decided  to  make  war  at  once, 
with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Bradstreet  alone,  (the 

*  This  Valentyne  is  apparently  the  same  whom  Ninigrot 
familiarly  called  '  Voll,'  and  another  chief,  '  Poll  ' 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  233 

member  from  Massachusetts^  who  protested  against 
•uch  a  proceeding,  and  thereby  prevented  it. 

In  1654,  the  commissioners  were  informed,  that 
Ninigret  was  not  only  prosecuting  hostilities  against 
the  Long-Island  Indians  as  before,  but  had  hired  the 
Mohawks,  Pocomtocks  and  Wampanoags  to  assist 
him.  They  immediately  sent  messengers  demand 
ing  his  appearance  at  Hartford,  and  the  payment  of 
the  tribute  so  long  due,  as  they  alleged,  for  the  Pe- 
quots  under  his  dominion.  One  article  in  the  mes 
senger's  instructions  was  expressed  thus.  "That 
vnlesse  hee  either  com  himselfe  fbrthwithe  to  Hart 
ford  or  give  som  satisfying  securitie  to  the  commis 
sioners  for  the  true  and  constant  paiment  of  the  said 
Tribute  the  commissioners  shall  thinke  of  some 
course  forthwithe  to  despose  of  the  said  Pequots 
some  other  way."  On  the  18th  of  September,  the 
following  report  was  made  of  the  result  of  the  inter 
view. 

1.  When  Ninigret  was  told,  that  the  commissioners 
had  perused  the  letter  he  had  sent  to  the  governor  of 
Massachusetts*  concerning  the  suspicions  he  had  of 
Uhccw,  he  answered,  that  he  knew  nothing  of  such 
letter,  and  expressed  great  wonder  at  its  being  charg 
ed  upon  him. 

Again,  as  to  the  breach  of  covenant  alleged 
against  him,  he  desired  to  know  who  could  say  that 
he  had  any  Pequots  under  him.  2.  Mr.  Eaton  and 
Mr.  Hopkins,  being  both  at  New  Haven,  had  told 
him  that  he  was  to  pay  for  the  Pequots  only  ten 
years.  And  3.  Those  ten  years  had  elapsed  three 
years  before.f 

*  We  see  no  previous  mention  of  this  letter.  It  must  have 
been  one  of  many  cases  where  the  commissioners  were  deceived 
by  false  testimony. 

t  Such  an  agreement  was  made  in  1651,  between  the  com 
missioners,  Uncas,  and  some  of  Ninigret's  men.  The  ten 
years  were  to  commence  with  1650;  but,  probably,  Ninigret 
was  either  uninformed  or  misinformed  respecting  this  stipula 
tion.  Frequently,  treaties  were  not  understood  even  by  thos« 
who  subscribed  them. 


4  INDIAN      BIOGRAPHY. 

3,  111  respect  to  the  Long-Islanders  he  answered 
in  the   following  remarkable  manner :    "  Wherfore 
should  he  acquaint  the  commissioners  therewith  when 
the  long-islanders  had  slayne  a  sachem's  son   and 
sixty  other   of  his  men ;   and  therefore  he  will  not 
make  peace  with  the  long-islanders,  but  doth  desire 
the  English  would  lett  him  alone,  and  doth  desire 
that  the   commissioners  would  not  Request  him  to 
goe  to  hartford  :    for  hee  had  doun  noe  hurt  what 
should  he  doe  there  ;  hee  had  bene  many  times  in 
the    Bay,  and   when   was   Uncas    there ;    Jonathan 
[the  messenger]  asked  him  whether  he  would  send 
two  or  three  of  his  men  that  might  act  in  his  Rome 
and  steed  if  hee  would  not  goe  him  selfe  hee  answared 
what  should  hee  or  his  men  doe  att  hartford  ;  Add 
ing  if  youer  Governor's  sonne  were  slayne  and  seu- 
erall  other  men  would  [you]  aske  counsell  of  anoth 
er  Nation  how  and  when  to  Right  yourselves  ;   and 
againe  said  hee  would  not  goe  nor  send  to  Hartford." 

4.  "Concerning  the  vpland  Indians  his  answare 
was  they  are   my  frinds  and  came    to  healp   mee 
against  the  long- islanders  which  had  killed  seuerall 
of  my  men ;  wherfore  should  I  acquaint  the  com 
missioners  with  it;  I  doe  but  Right  my  owne  quareil 
which  the  long-islanders  began  with  mee." 

This  spirited  reply,  alone  sufficient  to  immortalize 
Ninigret,  brought  on  open  war.  A  body  of  troops 
was  raised  in  the  three  united  colonies,  and  sent 
into  the  Niantick  country,  under  Major  Willard  of 
Massachusetts,  with  orders  to  demand  of  Ninigret  the 
Pequots  subject  to  his  control,  the  tribute  already 
due  from  them,  and  also  a  cessation  of  hostilities 
against  the  Indians  of  Long  Island.  On  refusal  to 
comply  with  these  terms,  they  were  to  reduce  him 
to  submission  and  tribute  by  force,  and  take  hostages 
for  security.  The  place  of  general  rendezvous  was 
appointed  at  Stanton's  house  in  the  Narraghansett 
country.  On  arriving  there,  Major  Willard  found 
that  Ninigret  had  fled  into  a  swamp  ten  or  fifteen 
miles  distant  from  the  army,  leaving  his  country,  corn, 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY  235 

and  wigwams,  at  the  invader's  mercy.  Messengers 
were  sent  to  him,  inviting  him  to  a  conference,  and 
pledging  the  safety  of  his  person.  He  returned  an 
swer  that  aggressions  had  already  been  made  upon 
his  territory  and  property,  and  he  did  not  think  it 
safe  for  him  to  visit  the  Major.  He  wished  to  know, 
too,  what  had  occasioned  the  present  invasion 
What  had  lie  done  to  the  English,  that  they  beset 
him  in  this  manner? — Whatever  the  difficulty  was, 
he  was  ready  to  settle  it  by  messengers,  but  not  in 
person. 

A  day  or  two  afterwards,  as  he  was  still  in  close 
quarters,  six  new  messengers  were  sent  to  him,  two 
of  whom,  only,  after  much  debate  with  his  guards 
and  scouts,  were  admitted  to  his  own  presence.  They 
began  with  demanding  the  Pequots  ;  to  which  he 
replied,  that  most  of  that  people  had  left  him  already 
— (nearly  one  hundred  had  deserted  to  the  English 
army — );  and  the  few  that  remained  were  hunting 
and  straggling  up  and  down  the  country.  He  how 
ever  set  his  mark  to  the  following  agreement,  dated 
Oct.  18,  1654. 

"  Wheras  the  commissioners  of  the  vnited  collonies 
demaund  by  theire  Messengers  that  I  deliuer  vp  to  the 
English  all  the  captiue  Pequotes  in  my  countrey  I 
heerby  ingage  myselfe  to  surrender  the  said  Pequotes 
within  seuen  daies  to  Mr.  Winthrope  or  Captain 
Mason  Witnesse  my  hand. 

Witnesse  Thomas  Stanton  and  Vallentine  Whit 
man  Interpreters  Witnesse  alsoe  Thomas  Bligh." 

The  messengers  next  demanded  the  tribute  duo 
for  the  Pequots.  He  replied,  that  he  never  engaged 
to  pay  it.  "  Why  then,"  said  they,  "  did  you  pay  it, 
or  part  of  it,  at  New  Haven  ?"  "  Because,"  he  readi 
ly  answered,  "I  feared  they  would  be  taken  from 
me  if  I  did  not,  and  therefore  made  a  gratuity  out 
of  my  own  wampum  to  please  T/OM."  Being  now 
forbidden  in  the  commissioners'  name,  to  pursue 
hostilities  against  the  Indians  of  Long-Island,  he 
stood  silent  for  some  time,  and  then  asked  if  it  was 


236  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

right  that  his  men — such  men — should  lose  theii 
lives  and  their  blood,  and  not  be  revenged.  The 
English  observed,  that  he  should  have  offered  his 
complaints  to  the  commissioners ;  but  to  this  he  made 
no  reply ;  nor  yet  to  the  unceremonious  if  not 
uncivil  declaration  of  the  messengers,  that  in  case  he 
gave  any  farther  trouble  to  any  of  the  friends  of  the 
English,  they  should  forthwith  take  the  liberty  to  set 
his  head  upon  a  pole.  The  conference  ended  with 
their  requesting  him  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the 
expedition,  which  he  refused  to  do  :  "  Hee  was  not 
the  cause  of  it,  but  longe-Island  Indians  killed  him  a 
man  att  Connecticott."  Thus  the  affair  ended.  The 
commander  was  censured  by  the  commissioners,  for 
neglecting  a  good  opportunity  of  humbling  a  trouble 
some  enemy,  but  no  farther  strictures  ensued.* 
They  contented  themselves  with  stationing  an  armed 
vessel  in  the  road  between  Neanticut  and  Long- 
Island,  with  orders  to  prevent  hostile  movements  on 
the  part  of  Ninigret,  and  with  encouraging  his 
Indian  adversaries  by  promises  of  English  assistance. 
The  next  year,  Ninigret  continuing  his  attacks,  they 
thought  themselves  under  obligation  to  furnish  it. 

From  this  time  forward,  there  is  little  of  interest 
in  the  life  either  of  Pessacus  or  Ninigret.  We  hear 
of  them  occasionally,  but  not  much  farther  than  is 
sufficient  to  indicate  their  existence.  Whether  they 
gave  less  reason  to  be  complained  of  than  before,  or 
whether  the  English  at  length  grew  weary  of  send 
ing  messages  to  them,  cannot  be  ascertained ;  but 
there  is  probably  some  truth  in  both  suppositions. 

One  of  the  last  deputations  to  Ninigret,  in  1656,  waa 
occasioned  by  complaints  which  he  made  to  the  Eng 

*  A  Mss.  private  letter  of  Major  Willard  is  extant,  (in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  Shattuck,  author  of  a  very  valuable  History 
of  Concord,  which  we  hope  may  be  soon  published,)  in  which, 
alluding  to  this  expedition,  he  rather  mysteriously  speaks  of  hi* 
'hands  being  tied.'  Whether  this  alludes  to  his  general  in 
•tractions,  or  to  something  more  secret,  every  reader  will  judge 
for  himself. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  237 

ish  of  grievances  recieved  from  the  Long- Islanders. 
He  failed  to  prove  them  as  alleged,  and  the  commis 
sioners  took  that  occasion  to  remind  him  of  his  own 
duties  and  defaults,  in  their  wonted  manner.  The 
lesson  was  repeated  in  1657,  some  affrays  and  assaults 
having  meanwhile  occurred,  which  threatened  to 
bring  on  more  serious  troubles  between  the  Indian 
tribes.  The  most  remarkable  circumstance  connect 
ed  with  the  deputation  of  this  season,  is  the  dissent 
of  the  commissioners  of  Massachusetts,  who  frequent 
ly  had  occasion  to  differ  with  their  associates  in 
regard  to  intercourse  with  the  Indians.  The  terms 
of  this  opinion,  expressed  in  the  records,  are  worthy 
of  notice,  as  throwing  a  casual  light  on  the  charges 
brought  against  Ninigret. 

"  There  hauing  bine,"  say  they,  "  many  messengers 
to  this  purpose  formerly  sent  from  the  commissioners 
to  the  Indian  Sachems,  but  seldom  obserued  by  them, 
which  now  to  Renew  againe  when  many  complaints 
have  bine  made  against  Vncas  by  seuerall  Sachems  and 
other  Indians  of  his  proud  Insolent  and  prouocking 
speeches  and  Ti'echerous  actions,  and  with  much  proba- 
bilitie  of  truth,  besides  his  hostile  attempts  at  Potunck 
&c. — seems  vnseasonable  ;  and  can  in  Reason  have 
no  other  attendance  in  conclusion  than  to  Render  vs 
lo  and  contemptable  in  the  eyes  of  the  Indians,  or  engage 
vs  to  vindecate  our  honer  in  a  dangerouse  and  vnessc- 
sarie  warr  vpon  Indian  quarrells,  the  grounds  whereof 
wee  can  hardly  euer  satisfactoryly  vnderstand,  &c." 
There  is  manifestly  great  truth,  as  well  as  some 
severity,  in  this  declaration.  We  may  hereafter  al 
lude  again  to  what  is  said  respecting  Vncas. 

We  now  refer  to  the  instructions  of  messengers 
aent  two  years  after  the  embassy  last  named,  merely 
to  illustrate  the  style  of  diplomacy  which  still  con 
tinued  to  be  used.  They  were  directed  "  to  Repaire 
to  Ninnigrett,  Pessicus,  Woqnocanoote,  and  the  Rest 
of  the  Narraghansett  Sachems,  and  distinctly  and 
clearly  deiiuer  to  them  the  following  message."  One 
article  of  complaint  runs  thus: 


238  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

"  The  comissioners  doe  require  ninety-five   fath 
om  of  wamparn  ordered  by  them  to  bee  payed  the  last 
yeare   for  the   Insolencyes  committed   att  mistress 
Brewster's  feet  to  her  great  affrightment  and  stealing 
corne  &c.  and  other  affronts." 

Again  :  "  The  comissioners  doe  charge  Ninni- 
grett  with  breach  of  couenant  and  high  neglect  of 
theire  order  sent  them  by  Major  Willard  six  y tarts  since 
not  to  Jnuadt  the  longe  Hand  Indians ;  and  doe 
account  this  surprising  the  longe-Iland  Indians  att 
Gull  Hand  and  rnurthering  of  them  to  be  an  insolent 
carriage  to  the  English  and  a  barbarous  and  inhu- 
rnaine  acte  ;  therefore  the  comissioners  haue  pro 
vided  for  his  entertainment  at  longe-Hand  if  hee  shall 
dare  further  to  attempt  vpon  them  before  hee  hath 
satisfied  the  comissioners  of  the  justnes  of  his  quar- 
rell,  ordering  the  English  there  to  assist  the  Indians 
and  driue  him  from  thence."  It  will  be  recollected, 
that  Ninigret  had  always  disclaimed  the  right  of  the 
English  to  interfere  in  this  contest  with  his  neigh 
bors,  though  he  explained  to  them,  so  far  as  to  justify 
himself  on  the  ground  of  having  been  first  aggrieved 
and  attacked  by  his  enemy.  More  recently  he  had 
chosen — probably  for  the  sake  of  keeping  peace  with 
the  English  —  to  make  complaints  to  them ;  but 
because  he  had  failed  to  prove  them  ( — and  no  doubt 
they  were  mostly  incapable  of  being  proved,  in  their 
very  nature — )  the  commissioners  had  taken  no  other 
notice  of  his  suit  than  to  send  Thomas  Stanton  and 
others  to  reprimand  him  at  once  for  his  present  in 
solence  and  his  old  sins. 

Still,  he  was  not  utterly  discouraged,  for  he  did 
not  invariably  fail  of  having  justice  done  him.  In 
1662,  the  commissioners  being  informed  of  his  in 
tention  to  sell  a  certain  tract  of  land  in  his  actual 
possession,  which  was  nevertheless  claimed  by  one 
Harmon  Garrett,  they  sent  to  him — not  a  message  of 
threats  by  Thomas  Stanton — but  "a  writing  vnder 
theire  hands  sertifying  the  said  Harmon  Garrett's 
claime,  which  being  made  knowne  to  Ninnigrett,  the 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY  239 

said  Nitmigrett  by  his  Messengers  to  the  eotnissioners 
att  theire  last  meeting  att  Plymouth  made  claime  to 
the  said  laud,  and  Refered  the  Determination  therof 
to  the  next  meeting  of  the  court  att  Boston,  desireing 
that  notice  might  bee  given  to  the  said  harmon  Garrett 
alt  the  said  Meeting  of  the  comissioners  to  appeer. 

This  honorable  proposition  was  adopted.  Garrett 
made  his  appearance,  and  Ninigret  sent  his  attorney 
to  meet  him  at  Boston.  Garrett  stated,  that  his 
father  was  a  great  sachem,  and  was  possessed  of 
the  lands  in  controversy,  and  that  Ninigret  was  the 
said  Sachem's  younger  brother.  On  the  other  side, 
Common  in  behalf  of  Nkiigret,  showed  that  his 
master  was  possessed  of  said  lands  according  to  the 
Indian  custom,  being  allowed  to  be  the  chief  sachem, 
and  having  married  the  sister  of  Harmon  Garrett ; 
and  that  said  Harmon  was  not  of  the  whole  [Nian- 
tick]  blood,  because  his  mother  was  a  stranger. 
This  evidence  was  furnished  orally  by  divers  Narra- 
ghansett  and  Pequot  Indians,  as  also  by  Uncas  and 
others  in  writing.  The  commissioners  decided,  that 
it  was  "not  meet  to  prejudice  the  title  of  Ninnigrett, 
being  in  posession  by  any  acte  of  theires,  and  that 
the  writing  giuen  vnder  theire  hand  att  New-hauen 
conserning  harmon  Garrett  bee  not  vnderstood  nor 
made  vse  of  to  prejudice  Ninnigrett's  title  and  poses 
sion,  but  aduise  all  the  English  to  forbeare  to  disturbe 
Ninnigrett."* 

The  good  effect  of  this  decision  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  almost  total  silence  of  history  in  regard  to  Nini 
gret  for  the  next  twelve  or  thirteen  years,  when  we 
find  him  coming  forward,  confidently  and  amicably, 
in  a  similar  case.  The  particulars  may  be  best 
gathered  from  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  John  Easton, 
(probably  a  magistrate  living  near  the  sachem,)  to  the 
Governor  of  Plymouth  Colony.  It  runs  thus  : 

"  Ninigret,  one  of  the  two  chief  sachems  of  the 
Narraghansetts  in  our  colony,  importuned  me  thus 


*  Records  of  the  Colonies.     Hazard,  Vol.  II. 


240  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

to  write  to  you,  that,  as  he  saith,  it  is  the  Indian 
custom  or  law,  that  when  any  sachem's  men  are 
driven  and  cast  ashore,  or  their  goods,  upon  any 
other  sachem's  jurisdiction,  or  taken  up  by  any  other 
sachem's  men,  that  the  goods  are  to  be  restored  to 
the  sachem  whose  men  they  were  ;  and  this  spring, 
twelve  Indians,  at  a  time,  were  drowned  in  the  sea, 
coming  from  an  Island,  and  some  of  their  goods 
drove  up  in  your  jurisdiction  at  Dartmouth ;  and  he 
desireth  you  to  inform  those  Indians  [at  Dartmouth] 
that  they  should  restore  to  him  all  the  goods  of  those 
drowned  that  they  have  got."* 

This  letter  was  written  in  March,  1675,  just  on  the 
eve  of  the  great  war  of  King  Philip.  The  friendly 
disposition  of  Ninigret  was  now  put  to  the  test.  The 
Nipmucks,  Nashaways,  Pocontocks,  the  Hadley  and 
Springfield  Indians,  the  Pokanokets  of  Philip,  the 
tribes  of  Maine,  and  still  nearer  home  the  Narraghan- 
eetts,  were  involved  in  the  common  controversy  of 
the  times.  But  Ninigret  remained  faithful  to  the 
English ;  and  though  he  took  no  personal  part  in 
the  war,  some  of  his  warriors  distinguished  them 
selves  more  than  once  by  their  zealous  cooperation 
with  their  allies.  Ninigret  was  one  of  the  signers 
of  the  treaty  of  July,  wherein  the  Narraghansetts 
oound  themselves  to  remain  neutral ;  and  in  October, 
his  counsellor,  Cornman,  signed  a  confirmation  of 
the  same  instrument,  in  his  name,  (at  Boston,]  with 
an  additional  agreement  to  surrender  up  sucn  Po- 
kanoket  refugees  as  might  be  found  in  his  territories 
Several  of  the  Narraghansett  sachems  did  the  same, 
but  Ninigret,  alone,  seems  to  have  maintained  his 
fidelity.  At  all  events,  he  alone  had  the  credit  of  it, 
and  the  consequent  benefit.  The  Narraghansetts 
were  completely  subdued,  and  their  country  overrun 
and  subjected.  The  tribe  and  territory  of  Ninigret 
were  spared ;  and  several  of  their  descendants  were 
living  on  the  premises  so  late  as  1738,  when  few,  if 

*  Sixth  volume  of  the  Mass.  His   Coll    1st  Series 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  241 

any,  of  the  Narraghansett  blood  could  be  found 
within  the  limits  of  Rhode  Island.* 

The  precise  time  of  the  death  of  Ninigret  is  not 
recorded  It  is  not  probable  that  he  lived  long  after 
Philip's  war,  for  two  good  reasons.  He  Is  rarely  if 
at  all  mentioned,  subsequently;  and  he  must  have 
been  already  quite  advanced  in  age.  It  was  now 
over  forty  years  since  that  Pequot  war,  at  the  date 
of  which  he  is  mentioned  by  Prince.  Pessacus  must 
have  died  previous  to  Phillip's  war.  We  do  not  find 
hte  name  in  the  Colonial  Records  after  1658,  though 
it  would  certainly  have  been  among  the  signatures 
to  the  treaty  last  mentioned,  had  he  been  living  at 
the  date  of  its  execution.  The  English  regarded 
him  as  the  leading  man  of  his  tribe. 

The  three  principal  complaints  made  against  Nini 
gret,  and  the  occasion  of  the  ill-treatment  he  receiv 
ed  from  the  English,  were  his  hostility  to  Uncas,  his 
intercourse  with  the  Dutch,  and  the  wars  which  he 
waged  with  the  Long  Islanders.  Respecting  the 
latter,  enough  has  already  been  said.  Enough  ap 
pears  in  the  protest  of  the  Massachusetts  commis 
sioners,  alone,  to  show  that  the  English  had  but  a 
poor  reason  for  interfering  as  they  did.  They  barely 
alleged  that  these  Indians  were  their  friends ;  but 
nothing  is  more  obvious  than  that  such  reasoning, 
however  satisfactory  to  themselves,  could  only  render 
them,  in  the  words  of  the  protest,  "  low  and  con 
temptible  in  the  eyes  of  the  Indians." 

**  There  being  noe  agreement  produced  or  proved,** 
— said  Mr.  Bradstreet,  of  Massachusetts,  in  1653— 
"  whereby  the  collenies  are  obliged  to  protect  the 
Long  Island  Indians  against  Niunegrett  or  others, 
and  so  noe  Reason  to  engage  them  in  theire  quar- 
rells  the  grounds  whereof  they  cannot  well  vnder- 
rtand:  I  therefore  see  not  sufficient  light  to  this 
vote." 

It  is  obvious  that  even  an  '  obligation,'  by  agree- 


*  Cullender's  Century  Discourse. 

10—16 


242  INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

merit,  to  protect  those  Indians,  might  not  imply  .1 
right  to  do  so  as  regarded  other  parties — but  grant 
ing  such  a  right  as  consequent  upon  sufficient  prov 
ocation,  it  still  remains  to  prove  upon  which  party 
lay  the  blame  of  the  first  attack.  Niriigret  always 
asserted  that  he  acted  in  self-defence,  and  no  doubt 
such  was  his  real  opinion.  The  English  only  rep 
rimanded  him  upon  old  scores,  when  he  laid  his 
grievances  before  them ;  and  then  sent  an  armed 
vessel  and  a  body  of  troops  to  fight  for  his  enemies. 
The  Long  Islanders  told  a  different  story ;  but  this 
was  at  best  but  one  Indian  testimony  against  anoth 
er  ;  and  how  much  theirs  in  particular  could  be  re 
lied  upon,  appears  from  the  fact,  that  within  a  year 
or  two  after  this  same  affair,  they  themselves  com 
mitted  the  most  flagrant  depredations  upon  the 
English.  Trurnbull  says,  that  in  1657,  "after  all 
the  trouble  and  expense" which  the  English  had  been 
at  for  their  defence,  they  became  tumultuous,  and 
did  great  damage  to  the  inhabitants  of  Southampton." 

To  conclude  this  discussion,  we  introduce  some 
passages  of  a  manuscript  letter  from  Roger  Williams 
to  the  government  of  one  of  the  colonies,  which  has 
already  been  cited.  It  bears  date  of  Oct.  5,  1654,  and 
was  written  to  prevent  war.* 

"  The  Cause  and  Roote  of  all  ye  present  mischief 
is  ye  Pride  of  2  Barbarians,  Ascassassotick,  ye  Long 
Island  Sachim,  and  Nenekuriat,  of  the  Narigansett. 
The  former  is  proud  and  foolish.  The  latter  is 
proud  and  fierce.  I  have  not  seene  him  these  many 
years,  yet  from  their  sober  men  I  hear  he  pleads, 

First,  yl  Ascassassotick,  a  very  Inferior  Sachim 
(bearing  himself  upon  ye  English)  hath  slain  3  01 
4  of  his  people  and  since  y<  sent  him  challenges  and 
darings  to  fight  and  mend  himself. 

2dly.  He,  Nenekunat,  consulted  by  Solemn  mes 
eengers  wkh  the  chiefe  of  the  English  Governors, 
Major  Endicott  then  Govr  of  ye  Massachusetts,  who 
sent  him  an  Implicite  consent  to  right  himselfe. 

*Col.  Rec.  ofR.  I. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  243 

X  After  he  had  taken  revenge,  upon  ye  Long 
Islanders  and  brought  away  about  14  Captives,  yet 
he  restored  them  all  again  upon  ye  mediation  and 
desire  of  ye  English. 

4.  Afler  this  peace  made,  the  Long  Islanders  pre 
tending  to  visit  Nenekunat  at  Block  Island,  slaugh 
tered  of  his  Narigansetts  neere  30  persons  at  mid 
night,  2  of  them  of  great  note,  especially  Wepiteam- 
mock's  sonn,  to  whom  Nenekunat  was  uncle." 

Mr.  Williams  afterwards  says ; 

"  1.  I  know  it  is  said  ye  Long  Islanders  are  sub 
jects  :  But  I  have  heard  this  greatly  questioned,  and 
indeed  I  question  whether  any  Indians  in  this  Coun 
try,  remayning  Barbarous  and  Pagan,  may  with 
truth  or  honor  be  cald  ye  English  subjects. 

2.  But  graunt  them  subjects,  what  capacitie  hath 
their  late  massacre  of  ye  Narigansetts  (with  whom 
they  had  made  peace)  without  ye  English  consent, 
though  still  under  ye  English  name,  put  them  into  ?" 

As  to  a  league  between  Ninigret  and  *  the  Durh 
Governor,'  his  own  reply  to  the  charge  has  be&o 
given.  It  will  furnish  some  amusement,  at  least,  to 
review  parts  of  the  evidence  upon  which  it  was 
founded.  Ninigret  and  Pessacus  sent  an  Indian 
named  Awashaw  to  the  commissioners,  in  pursuance 
of  their  agreement  to  give  what  satisfaction  they 
could  in  regard  to  this  subject ;  "  whoe  being  demand 
ed  why  Ninigret  went  to  the  Monhatoes  the  last  ivinter, 
answared  that  Ninigret  told  him  that  hee  went 
thether  to  bee  cured  of  his  disease,  hearing  there 
was  a  Frenchman  there  that  could  cure  him ;  that 
Mr.  lohn  Winthorpe  knew  of  his  going;  that  he 
carried  thirty  fathom  of  warnpam,  ten  whereof  he 
gave  the  Doctor  and  fifteen  to  the  governor ;  and  the 
governor  gave  him  in  Lieue  thereof  sleived  coates 
but  not  one  gun,  but  the  Indians  there  gave  Nini- 
grett  two  guns."  This  was  in  1653. 

Not  long  before,  it  seems  that  Uncos — the  last 
man  whose  evidence  should  have  been  noticed  at 
all — had  called  on  Governor  Haynes  at  Hartford.. 


244  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

and  informed  him  of  Nmigret's  visit  to  the  Dutch  , 
as  also  that  he  had  made  a  league  with  them,  bought 
up  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition,  and  negotiated 
with  the  New  York  Indians  for  a  war  against 
Uncas  and  the  English.  Furthermore,  it  was  said 
that  Ninigret  had  sent  to  a  neighboring  Sachem,  to 
procure  a  man  skilful  in  poisoning,  and  had  prom 
ised  him  one  hundred  fathoms  of  wampum  in  return. 
The  wampum  was  sent  by  a  canoe,  which  Uncas 
intercepted,  with  seven  Indians  aboard,  one  of 
whom  his  men  had  killed,  (according  to  his  own 
story,)  and  two  others  had  confessed  Ninigret's 
whole  plot.  We  are  inclined  to  hold,  that  this  testi 
mony  should  be  received  only  so  far  as  it  goes 
against  Uncas  himself,  showing  that  he  took  the 
liberty,  on  the  strength  of  his  suspicion  alone,  to 
assault  a  canoe  belonging  to  Ninigret,  and  to  murder 
one  of  his  subjects.  When  these  accusations  were 
stated  by  the  commissioners  to  Awashaw,  the  mes 
senger  just  mentioned,  and  he  was  particularly 
questioned  who  and  what  was  in  the  canoe,  he  re 
plied,  "  that  in  the  canoe  that  was  sent  back  which 
was  taken  by  Vncas  his  men,  hee  sent  in  it  sixty 
fathom  of  wampam  to  pay  for  the  two  guns  which 
he  had  of  the  Indians  whiles  hee  was  att  the  Mon- 
hatoes,  and  the  Remainder  of  the  Phissicke  he  had 
there."  Being  asked  what  corn  Ninigret  sent  to  the 
Dutch  in  the  Vessel  taken  by  the  English  [another 
aggression  it  would  seem,]  'he  said,  "  that  hee  In 
tended  not  to  send  any  corne  to  the  Duch  Governor, 
but  what  corne  was  aboard  the  Duch  vessel  was  for 
the  hier  of  the  vessel  that  brought  him  home."  It  ap 
pears,  he  had  returned  by  water,  while  some  of  his 
men  had  walked  :  and  he  paid  for  his  passage  in  corn. 
Awashaw  on  this  occasion  had  an  Indian  in  com 
pany  with  him,  named  Newcom  Matuxes.  The 
means  resorted  to  for  obtaining  proof  of  the  accusa 
tion,  are  farther  illustrated  by  the  information  grave 
ly  giren  us  in  the  Records,  that  this  fellow  "  spake 
with  one  lohn  lightfoot  of  Boston,  an  Englishman, 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  245 

whoe  as  Lightfoot  saith,  told  him  in  Dueh  that  the 
Duchmen  would  cutt  oft"  the  English  on  Long-island. 
Newcom  also  confesseth  that  Ninnigrett  said  that 
hee  heard  that  some  shipps  were  to  come  from  hoi- 
land  to  the  Monhatoes  to  cutt  off  the  English ;  and 
that  when  the  said  Newcom  lived  att  Southhold  an 
Indian  tould  him  that  the  Duch  would  come  against 
the  English  and  cutt  them  of,  but  they  would  saue 
the  weemen  and  children  and  guns  for  themselves 
But  Captaine  Simkins  and  the  said  Isightfoot  doe  both 
ajffeirme  that  the  saidNewcome  tould  them  that  the  Duch 
men  tould  him  as  before,  tho'  he  now  puts  it  of  and 
saith  that  an  Indian  tould  him.  Further  hee  the 
said  Newcom  tould  captaine  Simkins  (as  hee  confi 
dently  afeirmeth)  that  if  he  would  goe  to  serue  the 
Duch  the  Duch  would  giue  him  an  hundred  pounds 
a  yeare."  It  matters  but  little,  we  conceive,  whether 
Captain  Simkins  recollected  correctly  or  not,  his 
reminiscences  amounting  to  nothing  in  any  case. 
Ninigret  had  himself  expounded  the  transaction, 
much  more  completely  than  all  these  witnesses 
together. 

But  the  examination  was  still  pursued,  "  Thomas 
Stanton  [Interpreter]  being  there  alsoe  to  charge  it 
vpon  him.  The  said  Newcom  not  being  able  to 
cleare  himselfe  from  the  guilt  of  the  charge,  the 
comissioners  then  tould  Awashaw  that  had  the  said 
Newcom  not  bine  a  Messenger  sent  by  Ninnigrett 
nee  should  not  have  escaped  without  some  punish 
ment,  and  therfbre  they  willed  Awashaw  to  tell 
Ninnigrett  hee  would  doe  well  to  send  the  said 
Newcom  againe  to  vs,  the  better  to  cleare  himself t 
from  att  suspition"  This  manoeuvre  has  a  little  too 
much  the  air  of  a  pretext  for  getting  a  farther  oppor 
tunity  to  cross-examine  and  confuse  poor  Newcom ; 
he  had  thus  far  been  able  to  make  out  a  respectably 
clear  statement. 

Before  leaving  town,  Awashaw  sent  a  request  to 
the  commissioners  for  another  interview;  which 
being  granted,  he  inquired  who  had  informed  them 


246  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY, 

cf  these  matters  against  Ninigret.  They  mentioned 
in  reply  "severall  Indians,  and  more  particularly  the 
Monheage  Indian,  and  the  Narraghansett  taken  by 
Vncas  his  ?/ten."  Awashaw  then  requested  restitution 
of  the  wampum  taken  by  these  men.  The  commis 
sioners  only  said,  that  they  had  not  yet  ascertained 
the  truth  of  that  affair  ;  but  when  they  had  thought 
of  it  more,  he  should  know  their  decision. 

The  following  amusing  document  is  a  fair  speci 
men  of  the  testimony  furnished  against  Ninigret  by 
other  Indians.  It  is  the  deposition — taken  in  May, 
1653 — of  one  Adam,  of  whom  nothing  farther  is 
known.  After  mentioning  what  the  Dutch  Governor 
had  done  among  the  Indians,  which  is  not  to  our 
purpose, 

"Further  hee  saith  that  Ninnegrett  the  Fiscall 
[Treasurer]  and  the  Duch  Governor  were  vp  two 
daies  in  a  close  Roome  with  other  Sagamores ;  and 
there  was  noe  speaking  with  any  of  them  except 
when  they  came  for  a  cole  of  fier  or  the  like  and 
much  sewam  [wampum]  was  seen  at  that  time  in 
Ninnegret's  hand  and  he  carried  none  away  with 
him ;  further  hee  saith  that  Ronessocke  a  Sagamore 
on  longe  Island  tould  the  said  Addam  that  the  Duch 
Governor  bid  him  fly  for  his  life ;  for  that  the  plott 
was  now  descovered :  and  besides  hee  sends  word 
dayly  that  they  had  as  good  appear  now  for  when 
hee  is  cutt  of  the  English  will  cut  them  all  of. 

This  was  testifyed  aboard  Tuson  near  the  white 
stone  before  JOHN  LEVERETT 

WILLIAM  DAVIS." 

Other  evidence,  considerably  relied  upon,  was  an 
Indian  squaw's  relation  to  a  person  in  Wethersfield, 
(Conn.) — being  an  assertion,  in  general  terms,  that 
the  Dutch  and  the  Indians  were  leagued  against  the 
English.  In  fine,  the  commissioners  say,  "  wee  heart 
that  some  of  the  Duch  att  or  about  the  Monhatoes 
tell  the  English  they  shall  shortly  have  an  East  India 
breakfast,  in  which" it  is  conceived  they  Refer  to  that 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  247 

horrid  Trcachervs  and  crewill  plott  and  execution  att 
Amboina.  *  *  *  And  not  to  multiply  Indian  Testi 
monies  which  from  all  parts  of  the  oountrey  presse 
vpon  the  colonies — [we  quote  the  only  definite  state 
ment  we  can  find] — nine  Indian  Sagamores  whoe 
Hue  about  the  Monhatoes  did  voullentarily  without 
any  Motion  or  Reward  from  the  English  send  theire 
Messengers  to  Stanford  declaring  and  afeirming  that 
the  Duch  had  solissited  them  by  promising  them 
guns  pouder  swords  weapons  war-coates  and  coates 
to  cutt  of  the  English  "  &c.  It  is  of  no  consequence, 
so  far  as  regards  Ninigret,  whether  these  Sagamores 
conspired  to  tell  a  falsehood  or  to  tell  the  truth. 
Nor  do  we  intend  to  enter  at  length  into  this  ancient 
controversy  between  the  colonies  and  the  Dutch. 
It  js  sufficient  to  observe,  that  the  charges  of  the 
former  were  officially  and  distinctly  denied  by  the 
latter.  Governor  Stuyvesant.  in  a  letter  to  the 
commissioners  dated  May  26,  1658,  and  written  by 
the  order  of  the  Counsel  of  New-Netherlands,  says — 

"As  touching  what  happened  in  the  Arnboyna 
busines  in  the  East  Indies  is  unknown  vnto  vs, 
neither  hath  there  been  any  of  vs  there,  therefore 
wee  sease  to  answare  to  the  same  or  to  trouble  your- 
eelues  or  vs  therein. 

It  is  in  parte  as  youer  Worships  conclude  that 
about  January  there  came  a  strange  Indian  from  the 
North  called  Ninriigrett,  Commaunder  of  the  Narra- 
ghansetts.  But  hee  came  hither  ivith  a  passe  from 
Mr.  John  Winthrope  vpon  which  passe  as  wee  re 
member  the  occasion  of  his  coming  was  expressed 
viz :  to  be  cured  and  healed,"  &c.  On  the  whole, 
the  reader  of  our  times,  on  perusing  these  records, 
can  hardly  go  farther  with  the  commissioners  than 
to  extenuate  their  harshness  towards  Ninigret,  like 
their  treatment  of  Miantonomo,  on  the  score  of  their 
exaggerated  fears. 

Upon  the  quarrel  with  Uncas,  we  shall  waste  no 
words.  Ninigret  and  Pessacus  no  doubt  considered 
the  circumstances  of  Miantonomo's  case  a  sufficient 


248  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

cause  foi  war  upon  the  English.  But  this  they 
waived ;  and  even  engaged,  at  their  instance,  to  for 
bear  hostilities  against  Uncas  for  some  months,  ex 
pressing  at  the  same  time  a  strong  desire  to  be  upon 
friendly  terms  with  the  English,  if  they  could  be 
left  to  pursue  their  own  business  in  their  own  way. 
It  is  neither  necessary  nor  possible  to  determine  upon 
which  side  the  provocation  began  between  these 
sachems  and  Uncas.  It  has  been  seen,  that  the  latter 
took  many  liberties  for  which  the  English  never 
called  him  to  account,  as  well  as  some  for  which  they 
did  ;  but  of  still  more  they  must  necessarily  have  re 
mained  in  ignorance.  The  truth  seems  to  be  most 
plainly  set  forth  by  Hutchinson,  who  says,  it  would 
appear  to  have  been  good  policy  not  to  interpose  in 
this  Indian  quarrel ;  but  the  English  were  afraid  of 
the  success  of  the  Narraghansttts,  and  as  they  had 
generally  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Mohegans,  it  was 
feared,  that  as  soon  as  they  were  subdued,  if  not  in 
the  course  of  the  war,  the  Narraghansetts  and  their 
allies  would  fall  upon  the  plantations  of  the  English, 
against  whom  they  were  then  in  a  peculiar  manner 
enraged  for  the  death  of  Miantonomo.  The  same 
historian  acknowledges,  that  it  was  with  great  reluc 
tance  the  Narraghansetts  submitted  to  the  hard  terms 
of  the  treaty  of  1645,  and  only  in  consequence  of  the 
armed  force  which  had  already  invaded  their  country. 
They  must  have  considered  the  tribute  a  most  insult 
ing,  forcible  imposition. 

Waiving  a  statement  of  the  charges  which  Nini- 
gret  made,  or  might  have  made,  on  the  other  hand, 
against  the  English,  we  shall  only  observe  in  con 
clusion  that  whatever  may  be  thought  of  his  political 
course,  there  are  points  in  his  personal  character  not 
unworthy  of  esteem  and  even  of  admiration.  It  was 
noble  in  him,  according  to  the  principles  of  a  warrior 
and  king,  to  revenge,  as  far  as  he  was  able,  the  cool- 
blooded  massacre  of  his  relative  and  predecessor 
That  purpose  he  pursued  with  undaunted  courage 
and  indefatigable  energy.  He  would  gladly  have 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  249 

avoided  a  contest  with  the  English;  but  he  would 
not  sacrifice  his  honor  either  to  his  friendship  or  his 
interest.  The  spirit  with  which  he  repulsed  their 
attempts  to  interfere  in  his  contest  with  the  Long- 
Islanders,  indicated  a  soul  of  the  same  stamp.  His 
reasoning  upon  that  occasion—  assuming  the  truth 
f  his  premises,  which  we  have  no  means  either  of 
°r  falsifyin£~~aPPears  to  "s  wholly  unaB- 


I.—  IT 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Pequot  trite — Their  first  chief-sachem  known  to  Jie 
English,  PEKOATH — succeeded  by  S  ASS  A  cos — An  embas 
sy  sent  to  Boston  in  1631 — Residence  and  strong-holds  of 
Sassacus — His  earliest  intercourse  with  the  English — Mur 
der  of  Captain  Stone — Justification  of  it  by  Sassacus — He 
proposes  a  treaty  of  peace  in  1634 — Sends  deputies  to  Boston 
twice — Treaty  concluded — Anecdotes — His  wars  with  the 
Narraghansetts — Fresh  controversy  with  the  English — They 
send  an  armed  party  to  demand  damages — Conduct  of  the 
party,  and  consequences  of  it — War  with  the  Pequots  in 
1636 — Political  movements  of  Sassacus — English  expedi 
tion  against  him  in  1637 — He  is  defeated — Driven  from  his 
country — Killed  by  the  Mohawks — The  English  policy  in 
his  case  briefly  considered. 

THE  Pequots,  or  Pequods,  inhabited  that  part  of 
the  southern  coast  of  New  England,  which  is  now 
comprehended  within  the  limits  of  Connecticut. 
They  are  said  to  have  been  originally  an  inland  tribe, 
and  to  have  gained  possession  by  mere  force  of  arms 
of  the  fine  territory  which  they  occupied  at  the 
date  of  their  first  acquaintance  with  the  English. 
They  were  in  the  meridian  of  their  glory  and  power 
about  forty  years  previous  to  tual  period,  and  were 
then  the  most  considerable  tribe  in  New  England, 
mustering  as  many  as  four  thousand  bowmen.  Their 
principal  settlements  were  now  about  New  London 
and  Groton  ;  the  former  of  which  was  their  chief  har 
bor,  and  called  by  their  own  name.  The  Nipmuck 
Indians,  on  their  north,  were  still  tributary  to  them. 
So  also  were  a  part  of  the  Long  Islanders,  and  most 
of  the  Indians  on  the  Connecticut  river.  The  Nar 
raghansetts  alone  of  the  neighboring  tribes  had 
been  able  to  oppose  them  with  success,  and  against 
that  nation  ttiey  waged  an  implacable  and  almost 
perpetual  war. 

The  first  great  sachem  of  the  Pequots  known  to 
the  English  was  PEKOATH,  from  whom  they  proba- 


INDIAN    B100RAPHY.  2ol 

bly  derived  the  national  name.  He  appears  to  have 
been  a  great  warrior.  He  was  going  on  conquering 
and  to  conquer,  when  the  earliest  settlements  of  the 
English  were  made  upon  the  Massachusetts  coast. 
Tribe  after  tribe  retreated  before  him  as  he  advanced, 
till  his  terrible  myrmidons  were  at  length  in  a  situa 
tion  to  locate  themselves  at  their  ease  on  the  best 
soil,  and  beneath  the  most  genial  skies,  of  New 
England. 

As  early  as  1631,  Waghinacut,  a  sachem  of  one  of 
the  expelled  or  subjected  tribes  just  mentioned,  trav 
elled  across  the  wilderness  to  Boston  ;  and  attended 
by  a  Massachusetts  Sagamore,  and  one  Jack  Straw 
(an  Indian  who  had  formerly  lived  with  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  in  England,)  made  application  for  the  alli 
ance  or  assistance  of  the  Massachusetts  government 
against  Pekoath.  He  gave  a  glowing  description  of 
his  native  land  ;  and  promised,  if  some  of  the  English 
would  go  there  and  settle,  that  he  would  supply 
them  with  corn,  and  pay  them  eighty  beaver-skins 
yearly.  This  proposition  being  rejected,  he  desired 
that  at  least  two  men  might  be  permitted  to  accom 
pany  him,  with  the  view  of  examining  the  country. 
He  showed  great  anxiety  to  effect  that  object,  but 
to  no  purpose  ;  the  governor  suspected  some  strata 
gem,  and  politely  dismissed  his  visiter  with  the  com 
pliment  of  a  good  dinner  at  his  own  table.* 

The  successor  of  Pekoath,  and  the  last  as  well  as 
first  great  sachem  of  his  tribe  known  personally  to 
the  whites,  was  SASSACUS,  a  warrior  of  high  renown, 
who,  when  the  English  commenced  their  settlements 
in  Connecticut,  soon  after  the  transaction  last  men 
tioned,  had  no  fewer  than  twenty-six  sachems  or 
war-captains  under  his  dominion,  and  could  at  that 
time  muster,  at  the  smallest  calculation,  seven  hun- 

*  Winthrop's  Journal.  Waghinacut  persevered,  however, 
and  succeeded  He  went  to  Plymouth,  and  Governor  Wins- 
low  sent  out  a  party,  at  his  suggestion,  who  are  understood  to 
have  been  the  first  discoverers  of  Connecticut  river  and  th« 
adjacent  parts. 


252  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

dred  bowmen.  The  site  of  his  principal  fortress  and 
residence,  was  on  a  most  beautiful  eminence  in  the 
town  of  Groton,  commanding  one  of  the  best  pros 
pects  of  the  Sound  and  the  adjacent  country  which 
can  be  found  upon  the  coast.  Another  strong-hold 
was  a  little  farther  eastward,  near  Mystic  river ;  and 
this  also  was  finely  situated  upon  a  verdant  swell  of 
land,  gradually  descending  towards  the  south  and 
southeast. 

Sassacus,  and  his  warlike  Pequots,  are  almost  the 
only  American  chieftain  and  tribe  who,  in  the  light 
of  history,  seem  to  have  been  from  the  outset  dis 
posed  to  inveterate  hostility  against  all  foreigners. 
They  were,  as  Trumbull  observes,  men  of  great  and 
independent  spirits  ;  and  had  conquered  and  govern 
ed  the  nations  around  them  without  control.  They 
viewed  the  English  especially,  as  not  only  strangers 
but  mere  intruders,  without  right  or  pretence  of  right 
to  the  country,  who  had  nevertheless  taken  the  liberty 
to  make  settlements  and  build  forts  in  their  very 
neighborhood,  without  asking  their  consent — and 
even  to  restore  the  Indian  kings  whom  they  had 
subjected,  to  their  former  lands  and  authority.  Un 
der  these  circumstances,  it  is  no  matter  of  wonder, 
that  the  whites  had  scarcely  located  themselves 
within  the  bounds  of  Connecticut,  when  "  that  great, 
spirited  and  warlike  nation,  the  Pequots,  began  to 
murder  and  plunder  them,  and  to  wound  and  kill 
then*  cattle."* 

And  yet — setting  aside  the  general  offence  commit 
ted,  or  at  least  by  Sassacus  understood  to  be  commit 
ted,  in  the  act  of  making  settlements  without  leave — 
it  does  not  clearly  appear  whether  the  first  particular 
provocation  was  given  on  the  one  side  or  the  other 
It  is  only  known,  that  in  the  summer  ef  1633,  one 
Captain  Stone,  on  a  voyage  from  Maine  to  Virginia, 
put  into  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut  river,  and 
was  there  murdered  by  the  natives,  with  all  his  crew 

*  TninihulL 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  253 

Three  of  them,  who  went  ashore  to  kill  fowl,  were 
first  surprised  and  despatched.  A  sachem,  with 
Borne  of  his  men,  then  came  aboard,  and  staid  with 
Captain  Stone  in  his  cabin  until  the  latter  fell  asleep. 
The  sachem  then  knocked  him  on  the  head ;  and 
his  crew  being  at  this  time  in  the  cook's  room,  the 
Indians  took  such  guns  as  they  found  charged,  and 
fell  upon  them.  At  this  moment,  all  the  powder  on 
board  the  vessel,  in  the  hurry  of  sudden  alarm,  was 
accidentally  exploded.  The  deck  was  blown  up; 
but  most  of  the  Indians  escaping,  returned,  complet 
ed  the  massacre,  and  buined  the  wreck. 

Such  was  the  English  account  of  the 
The  Pequots  had  a  different  story  to  tell.  In  October 
1634,  Sassacus  sent  a  messenger  to  the  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  to  desire  friendship  and  alliance. 
This  man  brought  two  bundles  of  sticks  with  him, 
by  which  he  signified  how  many  beaver  and  otter 
skins  his  master  would  give,  besides  a  large  quan 
tity  of  wampum.  He  brought  also  a  small  present. 
The  Governor  received  it,  and  returned  a  moose 
coat  of  the  same  value ;  but  sent  word  to  Sassacus 
withal,  that  a  treaty  could  not  be  negotiated,  unless 
he  would  send  men  proper  to  negotiate,  and  enough 
of  them.* 

Accordingly,  but  a  fortnight  afterwards,  (though 
the  distance  to  the  Pequot  country  was  a  five-days* 
journey,)  two  more  messengers  arrived  at  Boston, 
bringing  another  present  of  wampum.  They  were 
told,  in  answer  to  their  renewed  application,  that  the 
English  would  willingly  come  to  amicable  terms 
with  Sassacus,  but  that  his  men  having  murdered 
Captain  Stone,  he  must  first  surrender  up  the  offend 
ers  to  justice.  The  messengers  readily  replied,  that 
the  sachem  concerned  in  that  transaction  had  since 
been  killed  by  the  Dutch;  and  that  all  the  other 
offenders  had  died  of  the  small  pox,  excepting  two. 
These,  they  presumed  Sassacus  would  surrender,  if 

•WinthropVol.  I. 


254  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

the  guilt  were  proved  upon  them.  They  asserted,  tha* 
Captain  Stone,  after  entering  their  river,  had  taken 
two  of  their  men,  and  detained  them  by  force,  and 
made  them  pilot  the  vessel  up  the  river.  The  cap 
tain  and  two  of  his  crew  then  landed,  taking  the 
guides  on  shore,  with  their  hands  still  bound  behind 
them.  The  natives  there  fell  upon  and  killed  them. 
The  vessel,  with  the  remainder  of  the  crew  on  board, 
was  blown  up — they  knew  not  how  or  wherefore. 

This — in  the  words  of  the  journalist  who  gives  the 
particulars — was  related  with  so  much  confidence 
and  gravity,  that  the  English  were  inclined  to  believe 
it,  especially  as  they  had  no  means  of  proving  its 
falsity.  A  treaty  was  concluded  on  the  following 
terms. 

1.  The  English  to  have  as  much  land  in  Connect! 
cut  as  they  needed,  provided  they  would  make  a 
settlement  there  :  and  the  Pequots  to  render  them  all 
the  assistance  they  could. 

2.  The  Pequots  to  give  the  English  four  hundred 
fathoms  of  wampum,  and  forty  beaver  and  thirty  otter 
skins  ;  and  to  surrender  the  two  murderers  whenever 
they  should  be  sent  for. 

3.  The  English  were  to  send  a  vessel  immediately, 
'to  trade  with  them  as  friends,  tho' not  to  defend 

them,"  and  the  Pequots  would  give  them  all  their 
*  custom.' 

The  agreement  was  put  in  writing,  and  subscribed 
by  the  two  messengers  with  their  marks.  The 
chief  object  proposed  by  Sassacus  in  effecting  it, 
appears  to  have  been,  not  the  assistance  of  the 
English  in  his  wars,  but  their  commerce  in  peace. 
He  thought  himself  competent  to  fight  his  own  bat 
tles  ;  and  perhaps  would  have  made  no  attempt  to 
conciliate  even  the  English,  but  for  having  quarrelled 
with  the  Dutch  of  New  York,  who  had  hitherto  sup 
plied  him,  and  thereby  lost  their  trade  as  well  as 
incurred  their  hostility. 

Meanwhile,  he  was  at  deadly  war,  as  usual,  with 
the  Narraghansetts.  The  very  next  morning  after 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  255 

the  treaty  was  concluded,  and  while  the  messengers 
still  tarried  in  Boston,  news  came,  that  a  party  of  two 
or  three  hundred  of  the  tribe  last  named  had  come  as 
far  asNeponsett,  (the  boundary  between  Milton  and 
Dorchester)  for  the  purpose  of  laying  wait  and  killing 
the  Pequots  on  their  way  home*.  The  English  im 
mediately  despatched  a  small  armed  force,  to  request 
a  visit  from  the  Narraghansetts ;  and  two  sachems, 
with  about  twenty  of  their  men,  obeyed  the  sum 
mons.  They  said  they  had  been  hunting  round 
about  the  country,  and  came  to  visit  the  Indians  al 
Neponsett,  according  to  old  custom.  However  this 
might  be,  they  showed  themselves  quite  ready  to 
gratify  the  English  in  their  requests;  and  the  Pequots 
were  permitted  to  return  home  unmolested. 

A  passage  in  the  Journal  of  Winthrop,  relating  to 
this  occasion,  illustrates  the  spirit  of  Sassacus  and 
his  subjects.  The  Narraghansetts  were  privately 
told  by  the  Governor,  that  if  they  should  happen  to 
make  peace  with  the  Pequots,  they  should  receive  a 
goodly  proportion  of  the  wampum  just  sent. — "For 
the  Pequots  held  it  dishonorable  to  offer  them  any 
thing  as  of  themselves,  yet  were  willing  we  would 
give  it  them,  and  indeed  did  offer  us  so  much  to  that 
end." 

Thus  matters  remained  until  1636.  During  that 
season  one  Oldham,  an  Englishman  who  had  been 
trading  in  Connecticut,  was  murdered  by  a  party  of 
Block-Island  Indians  ;  several  of  whom  are  said  to 
have  taken  refuge  among  the  Pequots,  and  to  have 
been  protected  by  them.  On  the  strength  of  this 
fact  and  this  supposition,  the  Governor  of  Massachu 
setts — Mr.  Oldham  being  a  Dorchester  resident — 
despatched  a  force  of  ninety  men,  under  Captain 
Endecott,  commissioned  (as  Mr.  Winthrop  tells  us,) 
10  put  to  death  the  men  of  Block- Island,  but  to  spare 
the  women  and  children,  and  bring  them  away,  and 
take  possession  of  the  Island.  Thence  they  were  to 
go  to  the  Pequots,  "to  demand  the  murderers  of 
Captain  Stone  and  other  English,  and  one  thousand 


256  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

fathom  of  wampum  for  damages  &c.  and  some  of  their 
children  as  hostages,  which  if  they  should  refuse, 
they  were  to  obtain  it  by  force." 

The  proceedings  which  ensued  upon  the  attempt 
to  execute  these  orders  ought  not  to  be  overlooked. 
From  Block-Island,  the  English  sailed  to  Pequot 
harbor.  Here  an  Indian  came  out  to  them  in  a  canoe, 
and  demanded  who  they  were,  and  what  they  would 
have  in  the  country  of  the  Pequots.  Endecott  replied, 
that  he  came  from  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts, 
to  speak  with  the  Pequot  sachems.  The  Indian 
answering  that  Sassacus  was  gone  to  Long-Island, 
he  was  directed  to  communicate  Endecott's  message 
to  another  sachem.  He  returned  to  the  shore,  and 
the  English  meanwhile  made  a  landing.  The  mes 
senger  came  back,  and  the  Indians  began  to  gather 
about  the  English.  Several  hours  passed  in  desulto 
ry  conference,  until  Endecott,  growing  impatient, 
announced  his  commission  to  the  crowd  which  sur 
rounded  him,  and  at  the  same  time  sent  word  to  the 
sachem,  that  unless  he  would  come  to  him  or  satisfy 
his  demands,  he  should  try  forcible  measures.  The 
messenger,  who  had  been  several  times  running  to 
and  fro  between  the  parties,  said  that  the  sachem 
would  come  forward  if  the  English  would  lay  down 
their  arms,  the  Indians  also  leaving  their  bows  and 
arrows  at  a  distance. 

Endecott  was  incensed  by  the  proposal,  consider 
ing  it  a  pretext  for  gaining  time.  He  therefore  bade 
the  Pequots  begone,  and  take  care  of  themselves ; 
they  had  dared  the  English  to  come  and  fight  with 
them,  he  said,  and  now  he  was  ready  for  the  battle. 
The  Pequots  withdrew  peaceably  to  a  distance. 
When  they  were  beyond  musket-shot,  "  he  marched 
after  them,  supposing  they  would  have  stood  it  awhile, 
as  they  did  to  the  Dutch,"*— but  they  all  fled,  letting 
fly  a  few  arrows  among  the  English,  which  did  no 
damage.  Two  of  their  own  number  were  killed  and 

*  Winthrop. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  257 

several  more  wounded  ;  and  the  English  then  march 
ed  up  to  their  village,  and  burned  all  their  wigwama 
and  mats.  At  night,  concludes  the  historian,  they 
returned  to  their  vessels ;  and  the  next  day  they 
went  ashore  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  and  burnt 
all  their  wigwams  and  spoiled  their  canoes  in  that 
quarter ;  and  so  set  sail  and  came  to  the  Narraghan- 
sett  country.  There  they  landed  their  men,  "and 
on  the  14th  of  7ber  they  came  all  safe  to  Boston, 
which  was  a  marvellous  providence  of  God,  that 
not  a  hair  fell  from  the  head  of  any  of  them,  nor 
any  sick  nor  feeble  person  among  them." 

The  sequel  of  the  tragedy  must  be  gathered  from 
other  authorities.  A  detachment  of  Endecott's 
party  was  appointed  to  reinforce  the  English  garri 
son  at  Saybrook.  Lying  wind-bound  off  Pequot 
harbor,  after  his  departure,  a  part  of  these  men 
went  on  shore  to  plunder  the  Pequots,  and  bring  off 
their  corn.  Their  ravages  were  interrupted  by  an 
attack  from  these  Indians.  The  skirmish  lasted  till 
near  evening,  and  then  both  parties  retired,  the  Eng 
lish  with  one  man  wounded,  and  the  Pequots  with  a 
loss  unknown.  We  have  given  the  particulars  of 
this  transaction,  (according  to  the  English  version 
of  course)  because  it  throws  light  upon  the  subse 
quent  relations  between  Sassacus  and  the  English. 

Whatever  was  the  disposition  of  the  Pequots 
previous  to  this  date,  there  is  no  question  about  them 
ever  afterwards.  They  determined  to  extirpate  the 
whites  from  the  limits  of  Connecticut;  and  to  that 
great  object  Sassacus  now  devoted  the  whole  force 
of  his  dominions  and  the  entire  energies  of  his  soul. 
The  forts  and  settlements  were  assaulted  in  every 
direction.  In  October,  five  of  the  Saybrook  garrison 
were  surprised,  as  they  were  carrying  home  their 
hay.  A  week  afterwards,  the  master  of  a  small 
English  vessel  was  taken  and  tortured ;  and  several 
others  within  the  same  month.  The  garrison  just 
mentioned  were  so  pressed  before  winter,  (1636— -7) 
that  they  were  obliged  to  keep  almost  wholly  within 
10—17 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

reach  of  their  guns.  Their  out-houses  were  razed,  and 
their  stacks  of  hay  burned  ;  and  so  many  of  the  cattle 
as  were  not  killed,  often  came  in  at  night  with  the 
arrows  of  the  enemy  sticking  in  them.  In  March, 
they  killed  four  of  the  garrison,  and  at  the  same  time 
surrounding  the  fort  on  all  sides,  challenged  the 
English  to  come  out  and  fight,  mocked  them  with 
the  groans  and  prayers  of  their  dying  friends  whom 
they  had  captured,  and  boasted  they  could  kill 
Englishmen  " all  one  flies"  Nothing  but  a  cannon 
loaded  with  grape-shot,  could  keep  them  from  beat 
ing  the  very  gates  down  with  their  clubs. 

Three  persons  were  next  killed  on  Connecticut 
river,  and  nine  at  Wethersfield.  No  boat  could  now 
pass  up  or  down  the  river  with  safety.  The  roads 
and  fields  were  everywhere  beset.  The  settlers 
could  neither  hunt,  fish,  nor  cultivate  the  land,  nor 
travel  at  home  or  abroad,  but  at  the  peril  of  life.  A 
constant  watch  was  kept  night  and  day.  People 
went  armed  to  their  daily  labors,  and  to  public  wor 
ship  ;  and  the  church  was  guarded  during  divine 
service.  Probably  no  portion  of  the  first  colonists 
of  New  England  ever  suffered  so  horribly  from  an 
Indian  warfare,  as  the  Connecticut  settlers  at  this 
gloomy  and  fearful  period. 

Nor  was  the  employment  of  his  own  subjects  the 
only  measure  adopted*  by  Sassacus  against  his  civil 
ized  enemy.  He  knew  them  too  well  to  despise, 
however  much  he  detested  them.  He  saw  there 
was  need  of  all  the  ingenuity  of  the  politician,  as 
well  as  the  prowess  of  the  warrior,  to  be  exercised 
upon  his  part ;  and  he  therefore  entered  upon  a  trial 
of  the  arts  of  diplomacy  with  the  same  cunning  and 
courage  which  were  the  confidence  of  his  followers 
in  the  field  of  battle.  The  proposal  of  alliance  offen 
sive  and  defensive  which  he  made  to  his  ancient  rival 
and  foe,  the  chief  sachem  of  the  Narraghansetts,  was 
a  conception  worthy  of  a  great  and  noble  soul.  And 
such  was  the  profound  skill  with  which  he  supported 
the  reasonableness  of  thai  policy,  that,  (as  we  hav* 


1N1MAN    BIOGRAPHY.  259 

heretofore  seen,)  Miantonomo  himself  wavered  in  his 
high-minded  fidelity  to  the  English  cause.  But  for 
the  presence  and  influence  of  Roger  Williams,*  the 
consummate  address  of  the  Pequot  must  have  carried 
his  point. 

The  measures  taken  by  the  other  colonies,  in  con 
sequence  of  the  state  of  things  we  have  been  describ 
ing,  and  the  minutiae  of  the  famous  expedition  of  Ma 
son,  are  too  well  known  to  be  repeated  at  length 
The  contest  was  not  long  continued,  but  it  requirea 
the  most  serious  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  English; 
and  not  only  did  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth  feel 
themselves  under  the  necessity  of  aiding  Connecticut 
in  the  suppression  of  this  common  and  terrible  foe, 
hut  many  of  the  Narraghansetts  also  were  called  on 
to  aid,  with  the  Nianticks,  the  Mohegans  and  other 
tribes  upon  the  river. 

Sassaeus  must  have  felt,  that  the  day  of  restitution 
and  reparation  was  indeed  come  upon  him  for  all  his 
ancient  victories  and  spoils.  Every  people  in  his 
neighborhood  who  had  suffered,  or  expected  to  su£ 
for,  from  his  pride  or  his  power,  now  gladly  witness 
ed  the  onset  of  a  new  enemy  against  him  ;  and  large 
numbers  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  do 
personal  service.  Not  less  than  five  hundred  Indians 
of  various  tribes  accompanied  Mason  in  his  march 
against  the  great  Pequot  fortress.  Not  a  few  of  them, 
without  doubt,  remembered  old  times  as  well  as  Mi 
antonomo  himself  though  they  acted  very  differently 
in  consequence. 

These  gallant  allies  were  so  eager  to  go  against 
the  Pequots,  that  nothing  but  the  van  of  the  army 
could  satisfy  them  for  their  own  station.  "  We  hope," 

*  That  gentleman,  in  one  of  his  letters  preserved  on  the 
Mass.  Records,  writes — "That  in  ye  Pequt  Wars  it  pleased 
your  honoured  Government  to  employ  me  in  ye  hazardous  and 
waighty  Service  of  negotiating  a  League  between  Yourselves 
and  the  Narigansetis  :  when  ye  Pequt  messengers  (who 
sought  ye  Narigansetfs  league  against  the  English)  had 
almost  rnded  yt  my  worck  and  life  together  " 


260  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

said  they,  (--or  something,  no  doubt,  to  that  pur 
pose — ) 

"  We  hope  it  will  offend  not  you  nor  yours 
The  chiefest  post  of  honor  should  be  ours." 

Upon  which 

4  Mason  harangues  them  with  high  compliments 
And  to  confirm  them  he  to  them  consents. 
Hold  on,  bold  men,  says  he,  as  you've  began  ; 
I'm  free  and  easy ;   you  shall  take  the  van." 

But,  — ("as  we  always  by  experience  find, 

Frost-bitten  leaves  will  not  abide  the  wind  ") — 

These  formidable  veterans  had  gone  but  a  few 
miles,  when  every  man  of  them  fell  in  the  rear,  and 
that  unluckily  to  such  a  distance  that  not  one  could 
be  found.  They  were  in  the  enemy's  country,  and 
the  truth  was,  they 

— "  Had  so  often,  to  their  harm, 
Felt  the  great  power  of  Sassacus's  arm, 
That  now  again  just  to  endure  the  same, 
The  dreadful  sound  of  great  Sassacus'  name, 
Seemed  every  moment  to  attack  their  ears, 
And  fill'd  them  with  such  heart-amazing  fears. 
That  suddenly  they  run  and  seek  to  hide, 
Swifter  than  leaves  in  the  autumnal  tide."* 

This  was  in  the  evening.  As  the  English  ap 
proached  the  fortress  about  day-light,  they  halted  at 
the  foot  of  a  large  hill,  and  Mason  sent  word  for  his 
allies  "  to  come  up."  After  a  long  time,  Uncas  and 
Wequashf  alone  made  their  appearance.  "  Where  is 

*  Wolcott's  Account. 

fVide  "A  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  THE  PEQUOT  WAR: 
Especially  of  the  memorable  Taking  of  their  Fort  at  Mys 
tic  in  Connecticut  in  1637,  written  by  Major  John  Mason, 
a  Principal  Actor  therein,  as  the  chief  captain  and  command 
er  of  Connecticut  Forces:  Boston:  Printed  and  So.*,  by  S. 
Kneeland  and  T.  Green  in  Queen  St.  1736."  The  following 
is  the  motto  of  this  tract. — •"  We  have  heard  with  our  ears,  O 
God.  *  *  *  how  thou  didst  drive  out  the  heathen  with  thy 
hand,  and  plantedst  them:  how  thou  didst  afflict  the  people  and 
cast  them  out,"  &c. 

The  author  of  IS7 K w  ENGLAND'S  FIRST  FRUITS  calls  th'i 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  261 

the  fort?"  inquired  Mason.  "On  the  top  of  that 
nill,"  answered  they.  "  And  where  are  the  rest  of 
the  Indians  ?" — Uncas  said,  "  they  were  behind,  ex 
ceedingly  afraid  ; "  and  the  most  that  Mason  could 
induce  them  to  do,  was  to  form  a  semi-circle  at  a 
particularly  respectful  distance,  for  the  purpose  of 
witnessing  the  attack  of  the  English  upon  the  ene 
my's  fort,  and  waylaying  such  of  the  Pequots  as 
might  escape  their  hands. 

The  resistance  was  manly  and  desperate,  but  the 
whole  work  of  destruction  was  completed  in  little 
more  than  an  hour.  The  extent  and  violence  of  the 
conflagration  kindled  by  the  assailants,  the  reflection 
of  this  pyramid  of  flames  upon  the  forest  around, 
the  flashing  and  roar  of  arms,  the  shrieks  and  y el- 
lings  of  men,  women  and  children  within,  and  the 
shouts  of  the  allies  without,  exhibited  one  of  the 
most  awful  scenes  which  the  pens  of  the  early  histo 
rians  have  described.  Seventy  wigwams  were 
burnt,  and  five  or  six  hundred  Pequots  killed.  Pa 
rent  and  child  alike,  the  sanop  and  squaw,  the  gray- 
haired  man  and  the  babe  were  buried  in  one  pro 
miscuous  ruin. 

It  had  been  Mason's  intention  to  fall  upon  both 
the  principal  forts  of  the  enemy  at  once  ;  and  finding 
it  impossible,  he  says,  "  we  were  much  grieved, 
chiefly  because  the  greatest  and  bloodiest  sachem 
there  resided,  whose  name  was  SASSACUS."  The 
execution  of  this  design  would  have  saved  him  much 
subsequent  loss  and  labor.  That  great  warrior  was 

man  a  famous  captain,  a  proper  man  of  person,  and  of  very 
grave  and  sober  spirit.  He  became  religions  after  the  Pequot 
war,  lived  sometime  among  the  whites,  and  then  preached  to 
iis  countrymen  until  his  death,  which  was  occasioned  by  a 
dose  of  poison  wherewith  s<  me  of  them  repaid  him  for  his  la- 
bore.  A  Massachusetts  clergyman  says  of  him,  in  1643:  "He 
loved  Christ,  he  preached  Christ  up  and  down,  and  then  suffered 
martyrdom  for  Christ;  and  when  he  dyed,  gave  his  soule  to 
Christ,  and  his  only  child  to  the  English,  rejoycingni  thir  bqpe 
that  the  child  should  know  more  of  Christ  than  its  ocvxe  *  » 
Iher  ever  did." 


262  INDIA.V    BIOGRAPHV. 

so  little  discouraged  by  the  horrible  havoc  already 
nade  among  his  subjects,  that  immediately  on  receir 
»ng  the  intelligence  he  despatched,  perhaps  led  on  in 
person,  a  reinforcement  of  three  hundred  warriors, 
who  pursued  the  English  very  closely  for  a  distance 
of  six  miles,  on  their  march  towards  Pequot  harbor. 

But  the  reception  which  this  body  met  with  from 
the  English,  drove  them  to  desperation.  The  whole 
remaining  force  of  the  nation  repaired  to  the  strong 
hold  of  Sassacus,  and  vented  all  their  complaints 
«nd  grievances  upon  his  head.  In  their  fury  they 
<^ven  threatened  to  destroy  him  and  his  family  :  and 
perhaps  nothing  but  the  entreaties  of  his  chief  coun 
sellors,  who  still  adhered  to  him  in  his  misfortunes, 
prevented  his  being  massacred  by  his  own  subjects 
in  his  own  fort.  A  large  number  deserted  him,  as  it 
was,  and  took  refuge  among  the  Indians  of  New 
York.  The  fort  was  then  destroyed,  and  Sassacus 
himself,  with  seventy  or  eighty  of  his  best  men,  re 
treated  towards  the  river  Hudson. 

To  kill  or  capture  him,  was  now  the  main  object 
of  the  war;  and  the  Pequots  were  pursued  west 
ward,  two  captured  sachems  having  had  their  lives 
spared  on  condition  of  guiding  the  English  in  the 
surprisal  of  their  royal  master.  The  enemy  were  at 
last  overtaken,  and  a  great  battle  took  place  in  a 
ywamp  in  Fairfield,  where  nearly  two  hundred  Pe 
quots  were  taken  prisoners,  besides  killed  and 
wounded.  Seven  hundred,  it  was  computed,  had 
now  been  destroyed  in  the  course  of  the  war.  As 
Mason  expresses  himself,  they  were  become  "  a  prey 
to  all  Indians ;  and  happy  were  they  that  could  bring 
in  their  heads  to  the  English — of  which  there  came 
almost  daily  to  Windsor  or  Hartford."  So  Winthrop 
writes  late  in  the  summer  of  1637 — "  The  Indians 
about  still  send  in  many  Pequots'  heads  and  hands 
from  Long  Island  and  other  places."  &c.* 

But  Sassacus  was  not  destined  to  fall  by  the  hands 

*  Journal,  Vol. 


17  DIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  26,1 

of  the  English,  although  thirteen  of  his  war-captain* 
had  already  been  slain,  and  he  was  himself  driven 
from  swamp  to  swamp,  by  night  and  day,  until  life 
was  hardly  worthy  of  an  effort  to  preserve  it  Even 
his  own  men  were  seeking  his  life,  to  such  extremi 
ties  were  they  compelled  by  fear  of  the  English. 
One  Pequot,  whose  liberty  was  granted  him  on  con 
dition  of  finding  and  betraying  Sassacus,  finally  suc 
ceeded  in  the  search.  He  came  up  with  him  in  one 
of  his  solitary  retreats  ;  but  finding  his  design  suspect 
ed,  and  wanting  the  courage  necessary  for  attacking 
a  warrior  whom  even  his  Narraghansett  enemies  had 
described  as  "all  one  God,"*  he  left  him  hi  the  night, 
and  returned  to  the  English. 

The  sachem  was  at  last  obliged  to  abandon  his 
country.  Taking  with  him  five  hundred  pounds  of 
wampum,  and  attended  by  several  of  his  best  war- 
captains  and  bravest  men,  he  sought  a  refuge  among 
the  Mohawks.  These  savages  wanted  the  magna 
nimity  to  shelter,  or  even  spare,  a  formidable  rival, 
now  brought  within  their  power  by  his  misfortunes. 
He  was  surprised  and  slain  by  a  party  of  them,  and 
most  of  the  faithful  companions  who  still  followed 
his  solitary  wanderings,  were  partakers  with  him  of 
the  same  miserable  fate.  The  scalp  of  Sassacus  was 
sent  to  Connecticut  in  the  fall ;  and  a  lock  of  it  soon 
after  carried  to  Boston,  *  as  a  rare  sight,'  (says  Trum- 
bull,)  and  a  sure  demonstration  of  the  death  of  a 
mortal  enemy. 

Thus  perished  the  last  great  sachem  of  the  Pe- 
quots ;  and  thus  was  that  proud  and  warlike  nation 
itselfj  with  the  exception  of  a  small  remnant,  swept 
from  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  case  requires  but 
brief  comment.  However  this  tribe  and  their  chief 
tain  might  have  been  predisposed  to  treat  the  En 
glish,  and  however  they  did  treat  their  Indian  neigh 
bors,  they  commenced  then-  intercourse  with  the 
whites,  ostensibly  at  least,  in  a  manner  as  friendly 

*  Mason's  History. 


264  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

and  honorable  as  it  was  independent.  Previous  to 
the  treaty,  indeed,  complaints  had  grown  out  of  the 
murder  of  Stone ;  but  the  English  had  no  evidence 
at  all  in  that  case,  while  the  evidence  of  the  Pequots 
was,  according  to  their  own  acknowledgement,  cogent 
if  not  conclusive,  in  support  of  their  innocence. 

We  may  add,  that  it  was  confirmed  by  what  is 
known  incidentally  of  the  character  of  Stone.  Gov 
ernor  Winthrop,  speaking  of  his  arrival  at  Boston  in 
June  1633,  on  board  a  small  vessel  loaded  with 
"  corn  and  salt,"  adds,  that  "  the  governor  of  Plym 
outh  sent  Captain  Standish  to  prosecute  against  him 
for  piracy."  The  particulars  of  the  accusation  need 
not  be  stated,  for  only  a  few  months  after  this,  we 
find  the  same  person  mentioned  as  charged  with  an 
other  infamous  crime  ;  "  and  though  it  appeared  he 
was  in  drink,  and  no  act  to  be  proved,  yet  it  was 
thought  fit  he  should  abide  his  trial,"  &c.  He  was 
fined  a  hundred  pounds,  and  expelled  from  the 
Massachusetts  jurisdiction. 

As  to  the  next  proceeding  recorded — the  expedi 
tion  of  the  English  in  1635 — we  have  only  to  re 
mark,  1.  That  the  demand  of  one  thousand  fathoms 
of  wampum,  with  no  justifiable  nor  even  alleged 
reason  for  it,  was  an  imposition  and  an  insult.  2. 
The  English  should  at  least  have  taken  time  to 
see  Sassacus  himself,  his  subjects  having  no  more 
authority  than  disposition  to  treat  without  him.  3. 
The  English,  with  no  apparent  provocation,  not  only 
insulted  but  assaulted  the  Pequots,  merely  to  see  if 
they  would  *  show  fight ;'  and  then  burnt  their  towns 
and  boats ;  not  a  hair  of  their  OAvn  heads  being  mean 
while  injured,  and  Sassacus  himself  being  still  absent. 

With  such  inducement,  the  chieftain  began  a  war 
of  extermination  ;  and  then  indeed  it  became  neces 
sary  that  one  of  the  two  nations  at  issue  should  be 
completely  disabled.  No  civilized  reader  entertains  a 
doubt  as  to  the  result  which,  under  such  an  alterna 
tive,  was  most  to  be  desired.  But  he  may  neverthe 
less  have  his  opinion,  respecting  the  moral  propriety 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  265 

AS  well  as  the  state  policy  of  the  measures  whi 
brought  on  that  horrible  necessity.  Let  the  whole 
truth,  then,  be  exposed.  If  it  shall  be  found,  (as  w  2 
believe  it  must  be,)  that  under  the  influence  of  strong 
and  sincere  though  fatal  excitement,  a  rashness  of 
the  civilized  party  was  the  ultimate  cause  of  the  ruin 
of  the  savage,  let  that  injustice  be  acknowledged, 
though  it  should  be  with  shanu  and  with  tears. 
Let  it  be  atoned  for,  as  far  as  it  may  be — in  the  only 
way  now  possible — by  the  candid  judgment  of  pos 
terity  and  history,  upon  the  merits  and  the  misfor 
tunes  of  both. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Pequot  territory  claimed  by  UNCAS — His  tribe,  family, 
and  early  history — Services  in  the  Pequot  expedition  re 
warded  by  the  English — Effect  of  their  favor — His  contest 
with  Miantonomo,  and  result — Subsequent  wars  and  quarrels 
with  various  tribes  and  chiefs — Assistance  rendered  him  by 
the  English — Complaints  brought  against  him  to  them — His 
Christianity  considered  —  His  morality  —  Evidence  of  his 
fraud,  falsehood,  violence,  tyranny,  ambition — Hie  services, 
and  those  of  his  tribe  to  the  English — Manner  in  which  he 
met  the  accusations  made  against  him — Cunning  and  servility 
— His  treatment  of  neighboring  sachems — Various  negotia 
tions  with  the  English  — His  death — Fate  of  his  tribe. 

ON  the  conquest  of  the  Pequots,  the  whole  of  their 
territory,  about  thirty  miles  square,  was  claimed  by  the 
Mohegans.  The  best  opinion  is,  that  this  tribe  was 
originally  a  part  of  the  Pequot  nation  ;  and  that  their 
subsequent  name  was  derived  from  the  place  of  their 
subsequent  residence.  The  first  chief  sachem  of 
the  Mohegans  personally  known  to  the  English,  was 
UNCAS,*  who  was  a  Pequot  by  birth,  and  of  the  royal 
line,  both  by  his  father  and  mother.  His  wife  was 
n  daughter  of  TATOBAM,  one  of  the  Pequot  sachems. 
Probably  he  had  been  himself  a  war-captain  under 
feassacus.  But  when  the  English  began  their  settle 
ments  in  Connecticut,  he  was  in  a  state  of  rebellion 
against  him,  in  consequence  of  some  misunderstand 
ing  between  them,  for  which  either  he  had  expatriated 
himself,  or  Sassacus  had  expelled  him  from  his  do 
minions.  At  this  time,  his  influence  was  inconsidera 
ble  ;  but  his  great  address  and  ambition  soon  made 
him  the  leading  Sagamore  of  the  Mohegans,  ns  they 

*  ONKOS.       Mason's  Pequot  Expedition. 
UN  c  ASS.     Wolcott. 
OKACK.      Roger    Williams. 
ONKUS  and  OKOKO.      JVinthrop. 
Uwcus,  UJ*QU  AS,  ITN  KOWAH,  &jr.      Hazard. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  267 

afterwards  mado  that  tribe  the  leading  one  m  Con 
necticut — [See  Appendix  No.  I.] 

The  English  were  more  indebted  to  Uncas  for 
his  zealous  services  in  the  Pequot  war,  than  to  all  the 
other  Indians  together,  though  they  at  first  entertain 
ed  doubts  of  his  fidelity.  Governor  Wolcott  says : 

« '  T  was  here  [at  Hartford]  that  Uncass  did  the  army  meet, 

With  many  stout  Moheagans  at  his  feet. 

He  to  the  general  [Mason]  goes,  and  doth  declare, 

He  came  for  our  assistance  in  the  war. 

He  wax  that  Sagamore,  whom  great  Sassacus'  rage 
Had  hitherto  kept  under  vassalage. 
But  weary  of  his  great  severity, 
He  now  revolts  and  to  the  English  fly. 
With  cheerful  air  our  captain  him  embraces, 
And  him  and  his  chief  men  with  titles  graces ; 
But  over  them  preserved  a  jealous  eye, 
Lest  all  this  might  be  done  in  treachtry.' 

But  he  was  soon  convinced,  that  his  suspicions 
were  unjust.  The  Mohegans  embarked  with  Mason's 
ninety  men,  on  board  a  pink  or  pinnace  and  a  shallop, 
both  which,  the  water  being  low  in  the  river,  fell 
aground  several  times.  The  Indians  disliked  this 
new  species  of  navigation,  and  especially  so  much 
of  it  as  pertained  to  the  flats  and  sands ;  and  Uncas 
was  still  more  impatient  to  recommend  himself  by 
an  active  commencement  of  the  war.  He  therefore 
requested,  that  he  and  his  men  might  be  set  on  shore, 
promising  to  join  Mason  again  at  Saybrook.  His 
request  was  granted ;  and  he  not  only  redeemed  his 
pledge,  but,  meeting  a  considerable  party  of  Pequots 
on  the  route,  he  attacked  them  with  great  spirit,  and 
killed  seven  of  their  number — "  which,"  says  Captain 
Mason,  "  we  looked  at  as  a  special  Providence ;  for 
before  we  were  somewhat  doubtful  of  his  fidelity." 

This  good  opinion  was  daily  confirmed  by  the 
Sachem's  conversation  and  conduct.  "  Indeed,"  our 
writer  elsewhere  adds,  "he  was  a  great  friend  and 
did  great  service — I  shall  never  forget  him."  At 
the  commencement  of  the  campaign,  the  various 


268  JXUIAX     BIOGRAPHY. 

Indians  who  engaged  in  it,  were  in  high  glee.  Thej 
gathered  into  a  ring,  and  one  by  one  made  solemn 
protestations  how  gallantly  they  would  demean 
themselves,  and  how  many  men  they  would  kill. 
But  Uncas  said  very  little,  until  Mason  inquired  of 
him  what  he  thought  these  Indians  would  do. 
"  Nothing,"  answered  he,  gravely  ;  "  The  Narra- 
ghansetts  will  leave  you  to  a  man.  I  can  only  say 
for  myself,  that  I  never  will."  And  he  never  did. 
The  Narraghansetts,  who  had  vaunted  themselves  on 
the  example  they  should  be  obliged  to  set  the  English, 
to  encourage  them  in  their  attack  upon  the  enemy, 
*oon  fell  into  the  back  ground,  and  many  of  them 
returned  home. 

The  English  marched  on  through  the  woods  by 
moonlight,  until,  finding  themselves  altogether  aban 
doned  by  these  spirited  allies,  they  halted,  and  sent 
messengers  to  know  what  had  become  of  them. 
\t  last, 

— *  After  long  waiting  for  die  same, 

Up  trusty  Uncass  and  stout  Wequash  came, 

Of  whom  the  general  in  strict  terms  demands, 

Where  stands  the  fort,  and  how  their  judgement  stands 

About  the  Enterprise!  and  what's  the  cause 

They  left  their  post  [the  van]  against  all  martial  laws  * 

From  the  answer  given  to  these  questions,  it  would 
appear  that,  however  it  might  be  with  the  Sachems, 
the  Indians  generally  were  in  horrible  fear  of  the 
Pequots.  The  apology  however  was  cogent ;  "  when 
once  they  were  engaged,"  said  they, 

" '  t  is  hard  to  get 

A  dispensation  from  them  to  retreat." 

But  no  such  reasoning  influenced  the  resolution 
or  the  fidelity  of  Uncas.  Even  after  the  great  suc 
cess  which  attended  the  assault,  most  of  the  Indiana 
deserted,  or  at  least  disappeared,  in  consequence  of 
an  apprehension  of  falling  in  with  the  wandering 
Pequots.  But  Uncas  remained  steadfast.  He  also 
did  active  service  afterwards,  against  a  band  of  the 


INDIAN   BIOGRAPHY.  £69 

enemy  who  had  settled  themselves  at  Pawcatuck, 
contrary  to  the  terms  of  their  submission  to  the 
English  ;  joining  his  friend  iMason,  on  that  occasion, 
with  one  hundred  of  his  men  and  twenty  canoes. 

A  small  harbor  in  the  southern  part  of  the  town 
of  Guilford,  (in  Connecticut)  has  to  this  day  a  name 
derived  from  one  of  his  achievements.  He  and  his 
Mohegans,  with  a  few  of  the  English,  having  under 
taken,  when  the  enemy  fled  westward,  to  scour  the 
shores  near  the  sea  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  off 
stragglers,  came  up  with  a  Pequot  sachem  and  a  few 
men,  not  far  from  this  harbor,  and  pursued  them. 
As  the  south  side  of  the  harbor  is  formed  by  a  long 
narrow  neck  of  land,  the  Pequots  went  out  upon 
that  point,  hoping  that  their  pursuers  would  pass  by 
them.  But  Uncas,  perceiving  the  stratagem,  ordered 
some  of  his  men  to  give  chase,  which  the  enemy 
observing,  swam  over  the  mouth  of  the  harbor. 
There  they  were  waylaid,  and  taken  as  they  landed. 
A  council  being  held,  and  the  sachem  sentenced  to 
death,  Uncas  himself  is  said  to  have  shot  him  with 
an  arrow,  cut  off  his  head,  and  set  it  up  in  the  crotch 
of  a  large  oak-tree  near  the  water.  The  skull  re 
mained  there  many  years,  and  the  name  of  the 
SACHEM'S-HEAD  has  been  ever  since  attached  to  the 
harbor.* 

The  remuneration  to  Uncas  for  the  part  which  he 
took  in  this  war,  was  a  portion  of  the  Pequot  terri 
tory,  (which  he  afterwards  sold  to  the  English,}  and 
one  hundred  captives  of  that  tribe ;  and  this,  with  the 
honor  of  having  subdued  his  great  Pequot  rival,  and 
the  reputation  of  being  upon  the  most  flattering  and 
favorable  terms  of  intercourse  with  the  English,  made 
him  at  once  a  character  of  high  dignity  and  of  no 
little  influence.  Indians  began  to  collect  around  him 
from  neighboring  tribes,  and  he  could  now  muster 
four  or  five  hundred  warriors.  The  state  of  Con 
necticut  treated  with  him,  and  made  him  presents, 

*  History  of  Guilford,  Mass.  His.  Coll. 


270  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

and  permitted  him  to  exercise  dominion  and  to  gnre 
deeds  of  territory,  in  all  respects  like  an  independent 
and  sovereign  authority,  while  he  enjoyed  at  the 
same  time  the  benefit  of  their  personal  patronage 
and  the  protection  of  his  tribe  from  their  enemies. 

In  July,  1638,  Uncas  visited  in  person  the  authori 
ties  of  Massachusetts  at  Boston — the  only  visit  of 
mere  ceremony  which  is  recorded  of  him  in  history. 
Ostensible  ceremony,  we  should  perhaps  say ;  for 
considering  the  time,  the  company,  and  especially 
the  deportment  on  that  occasion,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  Sachem  had  an  object  in  view  which 
lightened  the  weariness  of  his  long  journey. 

He  came  attended  by  thirty-seven  men,  and  ac 
companied  by  Governor  Haynes,  whom  he  had 
called  upon  by  the  way.  He  offered  the  Governor 
of  Massachusetts  a  present  of  twenty  fathoms  of 
wampum,  which  being  in  open  court,  the  Coun 
cil  thought  fit  to  refuse  it,  "  till  he  had  given  satisfac 
tion  about  the  Pequods  he  kept,"  &c.*  Upon  this 
he  appeared  much  dejected,  and  even  affected  to 
apprehend  that  his  life  was  in  danger.  But  he  was 
not  long  at  a  loss.  Evidence  was  produced  which 
counteracted  the  main  suspicions  that  rested  upon 
him  ;  and  he  promised  to  submit  his  controversy 
with  the  Narraghansetts  to  English  arbitration,  and 
to  follow  any  arrangement  they  should  make  as  to 
his  Pequots. 

The  present  was  now  accepted,  and  about  half  an 
hour  afterwards,  he  went  to  the  Governor,  and  ad 
dressed  him  in  the  following  terms :  "  This  heart " — 
he  said,  laying  his  hand  on  his  breast — "  is  not  mint, 
bid  yours.  I  have  no  men.  They  are  all  yours. 
Command  me  any  hard  thing — /  will  do  it.  I  will  not 
believe  any  Indian's  words  against  the  English.  If 
any  man  shall  kill  an  Englishman,  I  will  put  him  t» 
death  were  he  never  so  dear  to  me."  The  Governor 
gave  him  a  handsome  red  coat,  defrayed  the  ex- 


*  VVintlirop. 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  27  J 

penses  of  his  visit,  and  furnished  him  with  provisions 
for  his  return-journey,  and  a  general  letter  of  pro 
tection — and  so  "  he  departed  veiy  joyful." 

This  transaction  throws  some  light  upon  what  is 
far  the  most  singular  point  in  the  history  of  the 
cunning  Sachem,  viz :  that  he  invariably  maintained 
at  once  the  best  terms  with  his  civilized  ally  and  the 
worst  with  his  Indian  neighbors.  The  latter  circum 
stance  indeed  naturally  ensued  from  the  former ;  on 
account  of  which,  as  well  as  from  other  causes  par 
tially  explained  heretofore,  the  inveterate  hatred 
which  had  so  long  existed  between  the  Mohegans 
and  the  Narraghansetts,  previous  to  their  union  with 
the  English  for  the  suppression  of  the  common 
enemy  of  all,  broke  out  again  soon  after  the  treaty 
of  1638,  and  continued  from  that  time  forward  until 
the  proud  Narraghansetts  in  their  turn  fell  beneath 
the  power  of  the  English.  Ostensibly,  (as  we  have 
seen  in  the  life  of  Miantonomo,)  the  war  was  brought 
on  by  the  quarrel  of  Uncas  with  Sequassen,  of  whose 
outrage  he  complained  to  the  Governor  and  Court  of 
the  Colony.  The  high  estimate  he  set  upon  his  own 
dignity  appears  from  his  demanding  six  of  Sequas- 
sen's  men  for  the  murder  of  his  subject.  With  great 
difficulty  he  was  finally  persuaded  to  accept  of  the 
offender  alone.  But  Sequassen  objected  even  to  these 
terms  ;  for  he  would  do  nothing  but  fight.  A  con 
test  ensued,  and  Uncas  was  the  victor. 

His  subsequent  war  with  Miantonomo,  and  the 
proceedings  which  ensued  upon  his  triumph  over  that 
formidable  chieftain,  have  been  detailed.  From  this 
period,  so  long  as  the  Narraghansetts  remained  able 
to  send  an  army  into  the  field,  there  was  no  rest  for 
Uncas  or  his  people,  day  nor  night.  Truces  and 
promises  were  negotiated  and  passed  between  the 
parties  by  the  English  ;  but  the  power  which  impos 
ed,  or  the  influence  which  induced  these  obligations 
was  scarcely  withdrawn,  when  the  unextinguishable 
flame  blazed  forth,  the  more  furiously  for  its  brief 
suspension.  The  IVarraghansetts  repeatedly  invaded 


272  INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

the  Mohegan  country  in  the  course  of  the  year  1645, 
assaulted  Uricas  in  his  own  fort,  killed  and  captured 
numbers  of  his  men,  and  finally  so  pressed  him,  that 
both  Connecticut  and  New  Haven  were  obliged  to 
send  troops  to  his  assistance,  as  Hartford  had  done 
before,  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  completely  sub 
duing  him  and  his  country. 

In  It  148,  the  Mohawks,  Pocomtocks,  and  other 
tribes  w«re  induced  to  take  part  against  him.  Nine 
years  afterwards,  he  was  again  beset  in  his  fortress, 
and  again  rescued  by  the  Connecticut  forces ;  and  so 
late  as  1660,  the  same  emergency  led  to  the  same 
measures.  On  that  occasion,  he  was  besieged  until 
his  provisions  were  nearly  exhausted,  and  he  saw 
that,  without  speedy  relief,  he  and  his  men  must  soon 
perish  by  famine  or  sword.  In  this  crisis,  he  found 
means  of  communicating  his  danger  to  the  scouts  of 
the  English,  who  had  been  sent  out  from  Saybrook 
fort.  The  case  being  urgent,  one  Leffingwell,  an 
ensign  of  the  garrison,  and  a  bold  enterprising  man, 
loaded  a  canoe  with  beef,  corn  and  pease,  and  paddled 
it  under  cover  of  the  night  from  Saybrook  into  the 
Thames  river,  where  he  had  the  address  to  get  the 
whole  into  the  besieged  fort,  which  stood  near  the 
water's  edge.  The  enemy  soon  ascertained  that 
Uncas  was  relieved,  and  raised  the  siege.  The 
Sachem  is  said  to  have  rewarded  Leffingwell  for  his 
services  by  a  deed  of  the  town  of  Norwich.* 

And  not  open  and  honorable  arms,  (as  civilized 
foes  would  consider  them,)  alone,  were  employed 
against  Uncas.  One  of  the  Pequots,  in  1643,  shot 
him  through  the  arm,  at  the  instigation,  as  was  gener 
ally  supposed,  of  Miantonomo  ;  and  the  war  with 
that  chieftain  was  brought  on  by  similar  attempts  on 
the  part  of  Sequassen.  The  Narraghansett  sachema 
hired  an  Indian  to  assassinate  him  in  1649,  and  he 
succeeded  so  far  as  to  give  him  a  wound  in  the 
breast  with  a  sword,  which  for  some  time  was  thought 
mortal.  Sorcery  and  poison  were  also  tried 

*TrurabulI. 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  275 

Attempts  were  meanwhile  made  to  injure  him  in 
the  estimation  of  the  English  ;  his  enemies  bdiev 
ing,  and  with  good  reason,  that  the  withdrawal  of 
their  protection  would  be  fatal  to  him.  Sequa^sen, 
whose  hatred  was  inveterate,  went  so  far,  in  1646,  as 
to  form  a  plan  for  murdering  Governor  Hayues  and 
other  of  the  principal  inhabitants  of  Hartford,  with 
the  view  of  having  the  crime  charged  upon  Uncas. 
Watohibrough,  a  Waranoke  Indian  was  engaged  to 
do  the  business ;  and  he  and  Sequassen,  after  leaving 
matters  in  a  proper  train,  were  to  take  refuge  among 
the  Mohawks.  The  price  of  blood  was  already  paid 
in  girdles  of  warnpum  ;  but  Watohibrough  wanted 
courage  to  perform  what  avarice  only  had  led  him  to 
undertake.  Having  altered  his  mind  thus  far,  he 
soon  bethought  himself  that  the  English  had  given 
rewards  to  those  who  discovered  a  similar  conspiracy 
on  a  former  occasion ;  and  concluding  they  would 
do  so  again,  he  went  to  Hartford,  and  disclosed  every 
thing  he  knew.  Messengers  were  immediately  sent 
to  demand  the  attendance  of  Sequassen,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  clearing  himself  from  the  charge  ;  but  he 
thought  it  more  politic  to  avoid  the  messengers,  and 
BO  escaped  unpunished. 

The  English  authorities  invariably  took  cognizance 
of  all  these  and  similar  proceedings  ;  and  no  doubt, 
but  for  their  interference,  and  the  expectation  of  it, 
many  more  of  the  same  nature  would  have  taken 
place,  and  might  finally  have  succeeded.  Thus  it 
was  the  extraordinary  good  fortune  of  Uncas  to  be 
a  favorite  with  his  early  allies,  from  first  to  last. 
He  complained  of  no  grievance  in  vain :  and  as  a 
natural  consequence,  he  uniformly  complained  upon 
good  occasion,  as  well  as  frequently  upon  bad  or 
none.  The  Mohansick  Sachem,  of  Long- Island,  com 
mitted  trespasses  on  his  men ;  and  forthwith  "  hee 
desires  the  commissioners  that  hee  may  be  righted 
therein ;"  and  four  persons  are  immediately  appointed 
to  examine  the  Mohansick  Sachem, "  and  if  proof  bee 
cleare  to  labor  to  convince  him  thereof,  require  satis- 
10—18 


274  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

faccon,  and  in  case  of  reasonable  complyance  en- 
deauor  a  Composure  thereof:  but  if  no  satisfaccon 
will  bee  giuen  for  Iniuries,  proceed  then  to  lett  him 
know  they  give  the  English  just  cause  of  offence,  and 
will  bring  trouble  vpon  themselues."* 

The  possibility  of  his  giving  false  testimony  against 
his  enemies  and  rivals,  seems  scarcely  to  have  enter 
ed  the  Commissioners'  minds.  Upon  rumors  of  fresh 
assaults  by  the  Narraghansetts  upon  the  Long- 
Islanders,  in  1653,  they  sent  messengers  to  the  for 
mer,  requiring  their  attendance  at  Boston,  for  the 
purpose  of  compromising  the  quarrel.  These  mes 
sengers  were  farther  instructed  to  notify,  not  only  to 
the  Long- Islanders,  but  to  Uncos,  that  if  they  or  any 
of  them  had  any  thing  "to  enforme  charge  or  pro 
pound  either  in  the  foremencioned  or  any  other," 
they  were  to  send  witnesses  accordingly — "  and  by 
Thomas  Staunton  or  otherwise  you  are  to  giue  notice 
to  Captaine  Mason,  Vncus  &c.  that  there  may  bee  noe 
fayling  for  want  of  Witnesse  or  Euidence"  It  is  not 
wonderful,  that  Ninigret  asked  the  messengers,  on 
this  occasion,  after  being  told  of  their  errand — "Why 
doe  the  English  slight  mee,  and  respect  the  Longe- 
Islanders  and  the  Mohegins,  seeing  all  around  mee 
do  love  mee  and  are  my  frinds  ?  "f 

In  1654,  great  complaints  were  made  against  Uncas 
himself.  On  that  occasion,  the  same  messenger 
sent  to  the  Mohegan  sachem  was  sent  also  to  Nini 
gret  ;  but  although  the  former  was  the  accused  party, 
it  will  be  observed,  that  a  peculiar  provision  was 
made  to  accommodate  him,  while  the  only  one  made 
in  relation  to  Ninigret's  visit  was,  that  "  hee  may  not 
bring  with  him  aboue  twenty  or  thirty  men ;  nor 
may  Newcome,  or  as  the  Indians  call  him,  Mattackist, 
come  with  him  whoe  last  yeare  gaue  offence  att  Bos 
ton."  It  is  clear,  that  the  plaintiff  in  this  suit  was  no 
favorite  ;  and  it  is  further  remarkable,  that  the  mea- 

•  Recordt  of  the  Colonies  :  1649. 
t  Ibid  for  1653. 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  275 

ieuger  was  directed  to  take  the  present  occasion  of 
reminding  him  of  his  old  debts  and  defaults,  and  (as 
if  to  prevent  his  appearance)  requiring  satisfaction 
to  be  given  at  the  time  of  his  visit.  The  following 
are  the  messengers  instructions : 

"  You  are  to  informe  both  Vncus  and  his  brother 
Woweque  that  the  Commissioners  haue  receiued 
information  of  some  purpose  of  theires  to  invade  the 
Narraghansetts  or  Ninnigrett ;  they  haue  alsoe  heard 
of  some  differences  lately  groune  betwixt  Vncus  and 
his  brother  and  betwixt  them  and  theire  men.  They 
are  not  willing  to  receive  reports  without  due  enquiry ? 
they  haue  therefore  sent  for  Ninnigrett,  the  better  to 
secure  the  longe-Island  Indians,  and  to  heare  what 
hee  hath  to  allege  against  the  Mohegens,  and  com 
pose  all  other  differences.  The  Commissioners  ther- 
fore  desire  and  expect  that  both  Vncus  and  his 
brother  doe  forthwith  Come  to  hartford,  &c.  Yon 
are  alsoe  to  informe  both  Vncus  and  his  brother*  ana 
iheire  men,  that  the  English  doe  oune  Vncus  so  longe  as 
heecarrieth  himselfe  well,  and  shall  bee  loth  hee  suffer 
wrong."  &c. 

Next  follow  the  "  Instruccons  for  John  Gilbert  and 
John  Baily  whoe  were  sent  to  continue  att  Vncus  his 


fortt  during  his  absence. 
"You   shall   Repai 


lire  to  Mohegen,  and  acquaint 
Vncus  and  all  other  Indians  that  you  are  to  reside 
att  his  fortt  by  the  Commisioners  of  all  the  Collonies, 
to  the  Intent  that  Vncus  and  all  others  may  know 
the  realitie  of  the  English  to  continnew  his  frinds 
whiles  hee  continueth  faithfull  to  the  English ;  and 
because  the  Commissioners  have  now  sent  for  Vncus 
to  speak  with  him  concerning  some  affaires  of  con 
cernment  relating  to  himselfe  Ninnigrett  and  Wo- 
veque,  and  being  Informed  some  sturrs  may  arise  in 
his  absence  to  his  prejudice  you  shall  vse  youer 
ltdeauors  to  keep  all  things  quiett  and  informe  the 


*  WOWEQUE,  a  very  troublesome  fellow,  elsewhere  noticed" 
iiider  some  ten  or  fifteen  other  name*. 


276  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

Indians  that  such  attempts  wil  bee  ofieneiue  to  the 
English ."  &c. 

No  fears  seem  to  have  been  entertained,  that 
'  sturrs'  would  arise  in  the  Niantick  country  during 
Ninigret's  absence,  although  the  message  itself  was 
founded  upon  the  rumor  of  an  attack  to  be  made 
upon  him  by  the  other  party.  So,  when  Captain 
Mason  had  been  commissioned  to  march  against 
Ninigret  with  an  armed  force,  on  a  former  occasion, 
he  was  ordered  "to  advise  particularly  that  Vncus 
Fort  be  secured  when  any  strength  is  sent  forth  against 
the  enemie,  lest  hee  and  wee  recieue  more  damage 
by  some  Indian  stratageme  than  the  enemie."  A 
multitude  of  other  decisions  and  directions  might 
be  cited  to  the  same  purpose. 

Uncas  was  in  less  favor  with  the  English  towards 
the  latter  part  of  his  life  than  formerly,  for  reasons 
which  will  soon  be  mentioned.  He  did  not  however 
come  to  an  open  rupture  with  them  at  any  time ;  and 
his  subjects,  though  frequently  insolent,  were  never 
hostile.  On  the  contrary,  they  assisted  their  ally  on 
many  occasions,  the  Commissioners  never  hesitating 
to  notify  them  when  their  services  would  be  accepta 
ble,  and  they  never  hesitating  to  attend  a  summons.  For 
this  zeal,  directed  as  it  invariably  was  against  their 
Indian  neighbors,  and  generally  their  old  enemies,  it 
would  be  easy  to  suggest  more  reasons  than  one. 
They  thought  themselves  fortunate  in  these  secure 
and  sanctioned  opportunities  of  revenge  and  plun 
der,  even  had  they  not  also  been  richly  repaid  by  the 
protection  of  the  English,  reciprocated  to  them  in  all 
emergencies  of  their  own.  Their  last  services  during 
the  life  of  Uncas  were  during  Philip's  war,  when  a  par 
ty  of  them  was  commanded  by  Onecho,  a  son  of  Un 
cas,  and  by  other  sachems.  The  father  was  then  too 
old  9.  man  to  endure  much  more  labor  and  weariness 

It  has  been  stated,  that  Uncas  was  at  least  convinced 
of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  and  that  he  died  in  tie 
faith  ;  but  we  fear  this  information  can  hardly  ba 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  277 

relied  upon.     The  only  proof  of  it  we  have  seen  is 
derived  from  the  following  anecdote. 

In  the  summer  of  1676,  a  great  drought  prevailed 
throughout  New  England,  which  was  extremely 
severe  in  the  Mohegan  country.  The  corn  was  dried 
up  in  August,  and  the  fruit  and  leaves  fell  from  the 
trees,  as  in  autumn.  The  Indians  were  alarmed,  but 
knew  not  what  to  do.  According  to  custom,  they 
applied  to  their  Powahs  to  intercede  with  the  Great 
Spirit  for  rain,  after  their  manner;  but  these  men 
labored  to  no  purpose.  They  then  went  to  the  Eng 
lish  settlement  at  Norwich,  and  Uncas  went  with 
them.  He  told  Mr.  Fitch,  the  clergyman  at  that 
place,  that  it  was  a  hard  case  with  them — the  Powahs 
could  do  them  no  service — they  must  apply  to  the 
English  God.  Mr.  Fitch  appointed  a  fast-day  at  these 
and  other  suggestions.  The  weather  on  that  occa 
sion  proved  to  be  clear;  but  about  sunset,  at  the 
close  of  the  religious  services,  some  clouds  arose. 
The  next  day  also  was  cloudy.  Uncas  now  went  to 
the  house  of  Mr.  Fitch,  with  many  Indians,  and 
again  lamented  the  great  want  of  rain.  "If  God 
shall  send  it,"  said  Mr.  Fitch,  "  will  you  not  attribute 
it  to  your  Powahs?  "No,"  answered  the  sachem; 
"  we  have  done  our  utmost,  but  all  in  vain."  The 
clergyman  then  told  him,  that  if  he  would  make  this 
declaration  before  the  Indians,  they  should  see  what 
God  would  do  for  them.  Uncas  then  made  a  speech 
to  the  Indians,  confessing  with  particular  emphasis, 
that  if  God  should  grant  this  favor,  it  could  not  be 
in  consequence  of  their  powawing,  but  must  be 
ascribed  to  the  clergyman's  prayers.  Of  the  sequel 
we  only  know,  that  upon  the  day  following  there 
was  so  copious  a  rain  that  the  river  rose  more  than 
two  feet. 

This  testimony  proves  but  little.  On  the  other 
hand,  Mr.  Fitch  himself  in  a  letter  cited  by  Gookin 
gives  a  very  clear  opinion  as  follows  : 

" — Since  God  hath  called  me  to  labor  in  this  work 
among  the  Indians  nearer  to  me,  the  first  of  my  time 


278  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

was  spent  among  them  at  Moheek,  where 
and  his  son,  and  Wanuho  are  sachems.  These  a 
first  carried  it  teachably  and  tractably ;  until  at  length 
the  sachems  did  discern  that  religion  would  not  con 
sist  with  a  mere  receiving,  and  that  practical  reli 
gion  will  throw  down  their  heathenish  idols,  and  the 
sachems'  tyrannical  authority.  Discerning  this,  they 
did  not  only  go  away,  but  drew  off  their  people  and 
would  not  suffer  them  to  give  so  much  as  an  out 
ward  attendance  to  the  ministry  of  the  word  of 
God.  *  *  At  this  time  UNKAS  and  his  sons  seem  as 
if  they  would  come  on  again.  But  it  is  no  other  but 
in  envy  against  these  [the  converts]  and  to  promote 
gome  present  self-design" 

When  Mr.  Gookin,  with  the  Apostle  Elliot,  visited 
the  towns  of  the  Massachusetts  Praying  Indians,  in. 
1674,  he  says,  that  on  one  occasion,  a  large  part  of 
the  night  was  spent  at  Sagamore's  wigwam,  in  com 
pany  with  the  principal  Indians  then  at  the  settle 
ment,  in  prayer,  singing  psalms  and  exhortation. 
There  was  one  person  present,  who  sat  mute  during 
all  these  exercises.  At  length  he  arose  and  said,  that 
he  was  an  agent  for  Uncas,  the  Mohegan  sachem,  and 
that  in  his  name  he  challenged  a  right  to,  and  domin 
ion  over  this  people  of  Wabquissit.*  "  Uncas  is  not 
well  pleased,"  added  he,  "  that  the  English  should 
pass  over  Mohegan  river,  to  call  his  Indians  to  pray 
to  God."  Mr.  Gookin  replied,  that  Wabquissit  was 
within  the  Massachusetts  jurisdiction,  and  that  no 
harm  need  be  feared  at  all  events  ;  the  English  only 
wished  to  bring  the  Indians  to  the  knowledge  of 
Christ,  and  to  suppress  among  them  the  sins  of  drunk 
enness,  idolatry,  powowing,  witchcraft,  murder,  and 
the  like. 

This  was  plainly  a  lecture  meant  for  the  benefit 
of  Uncas  himself,  and  his  agent  was  specially  request 
ed  to  inform  him  of  the  answer  made  to  his  protest. 

*The  South-East  corner  of  Woodstock,  and  still  cullec 
Wabequasset.  It  was  in  truth,  as  it  still  is,  part  of  Onnecti- 
«ut,  though  claimed  hv  Massachusetts,  a»  well  as  by  Unca*. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  279 

In  another  connexion,  we  find  Mr.  Gookin's  opinion 
expressed  to  the  same  effect,  without  the  same  cir 
cumlocution.  "I  am  apt  to  fear,"  is  his  language,* 
"  that  a  great  obstruction  unto  his  [Mr.  Fitch's]  labors, 
is  in  the  sachem  of  those  Indians,  whose  name  is 
Unkas ;  an  old  wicked  and  wilful  man ;  a  drunkard, 
and  otherwise  very  vicious ;  who  hath  always  been 
an  opposer  and  underminer  of  praying  we  ^od — 
some  hints  whereof  I  have  given  in  the  narrative  of 
my  journey  to  Wabquissit,  before  mentioned."  The 
Sachem  once  took  the  trouble  to  visit  Hartford  for 
the  express  purpose  of  complaining  to  the  Colonial 
authorities  of  the  attempts  made  to  convert  his  sub 
jects  to  Christianity. 

His  piety,  then,  will  hardly  bear  rigid  examina 
tion.  Whether  his  morality  was  quite  so  objectiona 
ble  as  Mr.  Gookin  supposed,  or  whether  that  good  man 
was  unduly  prejudiced  against  him  for  his  opposition 
to  the  ministry,  may  not  be  easily  decided.  There 
is  but  too  much  reason  for  believing,  however,  that 
there  was  great  truth  in  most  of  the  charges,  and  a 
most  pertinent  application  for  the  lecture  referred  to 
above.  The  United  Commissioners  themselves  seem 
to  pay  but  a  sorry  compliment  to  his  previous  habits 
when,  so  late  as  1672,  they  directed  a  letter  to  be 
written  to  him,  "to  incurrage  him  to  attende  on  the 
Ilinnestrey." 

What  is  more  to  the  purpose,  we  find  a  complaint 
•mtered  against  him  before  them,  in  1647,  by  one  of 
his  Pequot  subjects,  named  Obechiquod.  The  griev 
ance  was,  that  Uncas  had  taken  possession  of  and 
detained  the  man's  wife  ;  and  though  FOXON,  the 
deputy  of  the  Mohegan  sachem,  ingeniously  argued, 
that  this  accident  had  happened  only  in  consequence 
of  Obechiquod's  having  unlawfully  withdrawn  from 
the  jurisdiction  of  Uncas,  and  left  his  wife  behind 
him,  to  be  of  course  appropriated,  according  to  Indian 
few,  by  any  other  person  who  desired  such  a  connex- 

*  His.  Coll.  Chapter  X. 


280  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

ion ;  yet  oven  the  Commissioners  felt  themselves 
obliged,  upon  a  hearing  of  the  whole  case,  to  express 
their  abhorrence  "of  that  lustfull  adulterous  carriage 
of  Vncus."  He  was  adjudged  to  restore  the  com 
plainant's  wife,  and  allow  the  husband  to  live  where 
he  chose,  on  condition  of  his  assisting  Uncas  in  his 
wars  whenever  the  English  desired.  He  was  dis 
charged  from  another  accusation  of  the  same  nature 
made  by  Sanops,  a  Connecticut  Indian,  at  the  same 
time — the  evidence  not  being  sufficient  to  convict 
him. 

The  proofs  of  fraud  and  falsehood  are  still  more 
abundant.  Miantonomo  hesitated  not  to  accuse  him 
of  foul  play,  even  in  the  Pequot  war ;  and  the  ac 
count  given  by  Roger  Williams  of  the  reports  which 
he  rendered  in  to  the  English  authorities,  of  the  Pe 
quot  captives  who  fell  into  his  hands,  goes  very  far 
to  establish  the  charge.  Six,  whom  he  had  taken  at 
one  time,  he  represented  to  be  Mohegans,  although 
an  Indian  who  gave  information  of  the  fact  to  Mr. 
Williams,  knew  them  as  Pequots  personally,  and 
perfectly  well,  and  mentioned  the  names  of  all. 

His  conduct  at  the  Hartford  conference  in  1637, 
has  already  been  the  subject  of  comment.  Some 
time  after  Miantonomo's  arrival,  who  had  been 
delayed  by  his  machinations,  he  sent  in  messen 
gers  to  the  court  that  he  was  lame,  and  could  not 
visit  them.  Governor  Haynes  observed,  that  this 
was  a  lame  excuse,  at  best,  and  immediately  des 
patched  a  cogent  request  for  him  to  attend  without 
fail  or  delay.  He  came  at  length,  and  the  Governor 
then  accused  him  of  the  flagrant  outrages  which  he 
and  his  subjects  had  committed  on  the  Narraghan- 
setts.  Some  altercation  ensued  between  the  riva) 
chieftains,  but,  by  the  persuasion  of  the  English,  they 
were  finally  induced  to  shake  hands.  Miantonomo 
then  cordially  invited  Uncas  to  sup  with  him,  hi» 
men  having  just  killed  some  venison  :  but  he  would 
not  consent.  The  sachems  were  now  called  upon 
to  make  returns  of  their  Pequot  prisoners.  Mianto- 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  281 

Domo  made  his  promptly,  and  no  fault  was  found. 
*  Okace  [Uncas]  was  desired  to  give  in  the  names 
of  his.  He  answered,  that  he  knew  not  their  names. 
He  said  there  were  forty  on  Long-Island ;  and  that 
Juanemo  [alias  Janemoh]  and  three  Nayantaquit 
Sachims  had  Pequts,  and  that  he  himself  had  but 
twenty.  Thomas  Stanton  [Interpreter]  told  him 
and  the  magistrates,  that  he  dealt  very  falsely  :  and  it 
was  affirmed  by  others,  that  he  fetched  thirty  or  for 
ty  from  Long-Island  at  one  time.  Then  he  acknow 
ledged  that  he  had  thirty,  but  the  names  he  could  not 
give.  It  pleased  the  magistrates  to  request  me  to 
send  to  Nayantaquit,  that  the  names  of  the  Pequts 
might  be  sent  to  Cunnihticut ;  as  also  to  give  Okace 
ten  days  to  bring  in  the  number  and  names  of  his 
Pequts  and  their  runaways,  Mr.  Haynes  threatening 
also  (in  case  of  failing)  to  fetch  them."*  This  trans 
action  speaks  clearly  enough  for  itself. 

The  Sachem's  treatment  of  the  Pequots  surrender 
ed  to  him  on  this  occasion,  does  him  little  more 
credit.  In  1647,  ten  years  after  the  conquest,  these 
unfortunate  people  sent  in  a  complaint  to  the  com 
missioners,  in  which  they  stated  that  Uncas  had 
drawn  wampum  from  them  unjustly,  on  all  manner 
of  pretexts,  and  without  any  pretext.  When  his 
child  had  died,  for  example,  he  made,  or  pretended 
to  make,  a  present  to  his  wife,  and  ordered  the  Pe 
quots  to  do  the  same.  Frightened  by  his  threats, 
they  collected  one  hundred  fathoms  of  wampum,  and 
gave  it  as  directed.  Uncas  appeared  to  be  pleased, 
and  promised  to  treat  them  from  that  time  forward 
as  his  own  ancient  subjects.  But  only  a  few  days 
afterwards,  his  brother  (Woweque)  came  and  told 
them,  that  Uncas  and  his  Council  had  determined  to 
kill  some  of  them.  They  now  thought  it  necessary 
to  appeal  to  the  English  protection,  and  they  set 
about  collecting  a  quantity  of  wampum  to  be  sent 
in  to  Connecticut  with  that  view.  Uncas  received 


Matters  of  Williams  in  Mass.  His.  Coil.  Third  Serie* 
I.— Y 


282  I.ND1AN    BIOGRAPHY. 

a  hint  of  their  movements ;  and  the  next  morning 
he  came  to  the  fort  where  they  were,  with  a  body 
of  warriors,  armed,  and  apparently  bent  upon  killing 
some  of  their  number.  They  however  escaped  safe 
to  Connecticut.  It  was  farther  alleged,  that  they 
had  given  Uncas  wampum  forty  times.  Twenty- 
five  times  they  had  sent  it  by  him  to  the  English, 
in  payment  of  tribute  ;  but  they  knew  not  that  any 
part  of  it  was  delivered.— Also,  that  Uncas  favored 
the  Mohegans  to  their  prejudice.  If  they  won  any 
thing  of  one  of  them  in  play,  it  could  never  be  col 
lected.— Also,  that  he  had  cut  all  their  fishing  nets 
for  not  aiding  him — as  they  were  not  bound  to  do- 
in  certain  of  his  forays  against  the  Indians  of  Long 
Island. 

The  reply  of  Foxon  to  these  charges— no  doubt 
Dy  instruction  from  his  master — is  full  of  his  usual 
ingenuity.  1.  As  to  the  wampum — "  he  belieueth 
the  Pequats  haue  for  tribute  and  vpon  other  occa 
sions  at  sundry  times  paid  wainpam  to  Vncus,  but 
denyeth  that  they  in  particular  bad  giuen  him  any 
for  the  English ;  but  the  Moyhegens  and  they  had 
sometimes  joyned  togeither  to  giue  in  wampamy 
which  had  been  sent  as  a  presente  twice  into  the 
Mattachusets,  and  sometimes  to  Mr.  Haynes  at 
Hartford,  but  he  thinckes  the  nomber  of  twenty-fine 
times  to  be  altogeither  false." 

2.  "  He  concieues  that  the  Pequats  being  an  vnder 
people  might  haue  some  wrong  from  the  Mohegens 
in  play  and   durst  not   presse   for  their  right,   but 
denyeth  that  Vncus  had  any  hand  therein." 

3.  "  He  acknowledged  that  the  Pequats  did  bring 
in  100  fathome  of  wampam  at  the  death  of  Vncus 
child,   and  were  promised  favoure  as  is  expressed, 
but  the  latter  was  only  a  treacherous  plott  of  Vncus 
brother  perswading  the  Pequats  to  withdraw  from 
Vncus  into  theire  oune  Country,  and  there  he  would 
come  vnto  them,  and  to  prouoke  them  thereunto  he 
tould   them  (though  falsly)  that  Vncus  had  deter 
mined  to  kill  some  of  them." 


INDIAN   BIO<;RAFH\.  283 

4.  "  Though  Vncus  at  first  apprehended  noe  in 
convenience  in  such  a  present  to  the  English,  yet 
being  after  informed  it  was  a  plott  on  a  fruite  of 
crooked  counsell  giuen  them  by  Tassaquanott,  Sas- 
sacus  his  brother,  who  had  suggested  vnto  them  that 
most  of  the  cheife  Sachems  were  cutt  off,  Vncus  to 
them  but  a  stranger,  why  should  they  serue  or  giue 
wampam  to  him,herewith  Vncus  was  justly  offended.** 

5.  "  He  had  heard  some  of  the  Mohegans  tooke 
fish  from  them,  but  knoweth  not  that  hee  cutt  theire 
netts,  though  he  cannot  deny  it." 

The  Commissioners  decreed,  that  the  Pequots 
should  return  to  the  dominion  of  Uncas,  who  should 
recieve  them  without  charge  or  revenge  for  the  man 
ner  iu  which  they  deserted  him  ;  and  on  the  other 
hand,  that  he  should  himself  be  reproved  for  his 
tyranny,  and  seriously  informed,  that  the  English 
would  not  support  him  "  iu  any  unlawfull,  much  less 
treacherous  and  outrageous  courses." 

Unquestionably,  this  '  brother'  of  Uncas  was  quite 
as  troublesome  to  himself  as  he  was  to  the  white 
people.  Mr.  Winthrop  complained,  at  this  very 
meeting,  that  he  had  fallen  upon  the  Nopnet  Indians 
entirely  without  provocation,  with  one  hundred  and 
thirty  Mohegans,  and  carried  off  wampum,  copper 
kettles,  great  hempen  baskets,  bear-skins,  deer-skins 
and  many  other  things  to  a  great  value.  These  facts 
were  admitted  by  Foxon,  who  also  asserted  that 
Uncas  had  no  part  either  in  the  assault  or  the  spoil, 
he  being  at  New  Haven  when  the  affair  happened. 
Other  complaints  being  brought  forward  and  proved, 
the  Commissioners  directed  that  Uncas  should  either 
disown  his  brother  entirely,  or  else  regulate  him  in 
A  more  suitable  manner  for  the  future.  This  was 
correct.  It  is  clear  that  he  either  instigated  these 
flagrant  outrages,  or  at  least  connived  at  them  by 
sufferance.  He  was  able  to  prevent  them,  as  far  as 
he  thought  proper. 

It  would  be  tedious,  though  riot  wholly  without 
matter  of  amusomont,  to  detail  at  large  all  the  accu- 


284  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

gallons  brought  against  the  Mohegan  Sachem  by 
various  complainants  at  various  times.  Massachu 
setts  and  Connecticut  arraigned  him.  The  English 
settlements  nearest  to  him  accused  him  of  insolence 
and  violent  assaults.  The  Mohawks  quarrelled  with 
his  tribe.  The  Narraghansetts  and  Nianticks  char 
ged  him  repeatedly  with  inroads  and  insults  upon 
them  Necwash  Cooke,  a  Pequot  under  English 
protection,  complained  of  being  plundered  with  open 
force.  Sanops,  an  Indian  mentioned  heretofore,  was 
robbed  of  his  corn  and  beans,  (perhaps  hardly  less 
valuable  to  him  than  his  wife.)  Mr.  Winthrop  stated, 
in  behalf  of  a  Long  Island  Sachem,  that  he  had  sent 
sixty  fathoms  of  wampum  to  the  Governor  of  Mas 
sachusetts  by  Uncas ;  and  though  he  made  the 
bearer  himself  a  present  of  twenty  at  the  same  time, 
he  had  embezzled  the  whole. 

Again,  one  A  pumps  "complained  against  Vncus, 
that  about  sixe  weekes  since  hee  tooke  sixe  of  his 
people  at  Quinnapauge,  killed  one,  and  wounded 
another." 

"  POMHAM  [a  Massacusetts  Sachem]  appearing  be 
fore  the  Commissioners  [at  the  same  meeting]  said 
that  about  a  month  agone  Vncus  or  some  of  his  men 
killed  a  man  and  two  wemen  at  Cawesett,  the  one  of 
them  belonging  to  himselfe,  the  other  vnto  Tupaya- 
men,  both  without  provocation." 

"Wee  desire  the  English  Sachims" — wrote  the 
Pocomptocks  in  answer  to  an  English  message  of 
inquiry  — "  not  to  perswade  vs  to  a  peace  with 
Vncus  ;  for  though  hee  promiseth  much  yett  will  hee 
performe  nothinge.  We  have  experience  of  hi» 
falcenes"  &c. 

In  1656,  he,  or  his  brother,  invaded  the  Norwoo- 
tucks ;  and  he  even  joined  arms  with  Ninnigret  against 
a  Sachem  of  Long  Island.  About  two  years  before 
this,  he  had  taken  occasion  to  push  his  conquest* 
oeyond  the  river  Connecticut  by  quarrelling  and  then 
fighting  with  ARRHAMAMET,  Sachem  of  Mussauco 
how  Simsbury,  near  Hartford.)  He  sent  one  of  hit 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  285 

warriors  to  take  and  burn  a  wigwam  in  the  outskirts 
of  tli*;  village,  killing  a  few  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
then  leaving  marks  of  the  Mohawks.  His  orders 
were  executed,  and  the  stratagem  took  effect.  Arr- 
hamamet  ascribed  the  mischief  to  the  Mohawks, 
and,  burning  with  resentment,  fitted  out  a  war-party, 
and  went  in  pursuit  of  them  to  the  Northwest. 
Uncas  thus  gained  time  to  equip  his  men,  and  fall 
upon  the  enemy's  town  in  his  absence.  Arrhamamet 
was  subjugated  and  his  tribe,  the  Podunks,  were 
ever  afterwards  tributary  to  Uncas. 

The  season  before  this,  Meeksaw  [probably  Mex- 
hain]  a  Narraghansett  Sachem,  complained  that  Un 
cas  had  killed  one  of  his  men,  and  also  that  he  had 
"  afronted  him  by  abusiuely  naming  and  jeering  his 
dead  ancestors,  and  sending  him  a  challenge  this 
summer  to  fight."  The  Commissioners  inquired  of 
Foxon  the  truth  of  the  charge,  "and  hee  not  giuinga 
satisfactory  answare,  they  tooke  the  matter  into  con 
sideration."  &c.  Soon  afterwards  the  same  person 
complained  "  of  a  gun  taken  from  a  Narraghansett 
Indian  by  Vncus  his  son,  which  some  of  Vncus  his 
men  acknowlidged  to  bee  true."  The  Commission 
ers'  judgment  in  this  case  was,  substantially,  that 
although  Mexham  had  not  sufficient  proof,  yet, 
knowing  that  Uncas  out  of  his  pride  and  folly  wa» 
apt  to  insult  people,  they  would  send  him  a  suitable 
reprimand.  In  some  other  cases,  they  went  so  far 
as  to  adjudge,  and  perhaps  enforce  restitution. 

Not  to  examine  the  records  farther,  it  is  only  ne 
cessary  to  observe,  that  though  all  these  accusations 
were  not  strictly  correct,  many  of  them,  and  many 
others,  were  proved  ;  and  perhaps  a  tithe  of  the 
truth  never  appeared  after  all.  Some  of  the  sufferers 
were  too  proud  to  complain.  Others  had  no  evidence 
to  offer  but  their  own.  Many  supposed  it  impracti 
cable  to  obtain  a  fair  hearing  or  decision  of  the 
Commissioners,  against  a  chieftain  regarded  as  their 
ward ;  and  many  more  were  too  much  irritated  not 


286  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

to  right  themselves  in  a  more  customary  and  sum 
mary  manner  upon  the  spot. 

The  secret  source  of  this  extraordinary  series  of 
wars,  forays,  challenges,  robberies  and  adulteries,  like 
that  of  the  Sachem's  inveterate  opposition  to  Chris 
tianity,  was  in  his  lawless  appetites  and  passions; 
but  especially  an  inordinate  and  uncontrolled  ambi 
tion.  It  might  be  with  justice  that  Miantonomo  was 
accused  of  a  design  to  make  himself  UNIVERSAL 
SAGAMORE — as  the  phrase  was — of  New  England. 
Hut  the  Naraghansett  took  no  measures  for  the 
attainment  of  his  object  which  were  in  his  own  view 
cither  mean  or  malicious.  He  neither  kept  back  part 
of  the  captives,  nor  embezzled  the  tribute  which 
they  deposited  in  his  hands,  nor  plundered  his 
neighbors  in  time  of  peace,  nor  unduly  availed  him 
self  of  foreign  assistance  for  the  annihilation  of  his 
rivals.  He  sent  a  few  of  his  men,  it  is  true,  to  aid 
in  the  Pequot  expedition — or  rather  did  not,  perhaps 
•could  not  prevent  them  from  going — but  these  were 
only  two  hundred,  out  of  two  thousand;  and  he 
neither  headed  them  himself,  like  Uncas,  nor  even 
engaged  personally  at  all  in  the  contest.  Indeed, 
lie  at  most  only  continued,  on  this  occasion,  the  hos 
tilities  which  had  existed  between  the  two  nations 
for  a  long  series  of  years ;  and  all  historians  admit, 
that  he  was  very  near  joining  Sassacus  at  one  time 
against  the  English  themselves.  Uncas,  on  the  other 
hand,  made  the  most  of  the  opportunity,  to  revenge 
himself  upon  Sassacus,  and  to  exalt  his  reputation 
and  power  upon  the  wreck  of  the  Pequots. 

Miantonomo  became  in  his  turn  a  victim  to  the 
eame  over-reaching  spirit.  He  began  the  war,  in 
deed — or  rather  the  campaign — and  Uncas,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  encouraged  in  his  course  by  his 
allies  ; — but  a  magnanimous  soul  would  never  have 
permitted  either  circumstance  to  affect  the  treatment 
of  a  sovereign  like  himself,  who  had  fallen  into  his 
'hands  by  the  chances  of  battle. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  287 

Ninigret  next  became  the  grand  object  of  hia 
scrutiny.  He  went  forward  as  often  as  practicable 
to  prejudice  the  character  of  that  chieftain  in  the 
eyes  of  the  English,  as  well  as  to  reduce  his  re 
sources  by  direct  attacks.  No  man  was  so  zealous 
as  he  in  furnishing  evidence — such  as  it  was — to  con 
vict  him  of  a  conspiracy  with  the  Dutch  against  the 
colonies  ;  and  though  he  is  understood  to  have  been 
ostensibly  at  peace  with  him  at  that  period,  he  car 
ried  his  interference  to  such  a  length  as  to  lay  wait 
and  intercept  a  Niantick  canoe  which,  as  he  pre 
tended  to  suspect,  was  laden  with  certain  palpable 
evidences  of  the  hostile  coalition.  So  we  find  him 
falling  upon  Mexham,  Necwash,  Cooke,  Woosame- 
quin,  and  last,  of  all,  King  Philip.  No  doubt,  he  had 
sagacity  enough  to  perceive,  that  such  a  course  must 
prove  unfavorable,  if  not  fatal  to  his  race ;  but  pat 
riotism,  honor,  friendship,  generosity,  truth,  every 
nobler  feeling  of  his  nature  was  merged  in  a  barba 
rous,  ferocious  ambition. 

There  is  a  curious  illustration  of  this  weakness  up 
on  record : — "  Vncas  complained  that  SEQUASSONSOHI 
yeares  sence  as  is  well  knoune  began  hostile  actea 
vpon  him  to  the  desturbance  of  the  publicke  peace. 
Whervpon  hee  was  ocationed  to  fight  and  in  the 
Issue  ouercame  him  and  conquared  his  Country, 
which  though  hee  gaue  to  the  English  and  did  not 
oppose  the  fauor  they  were  pleased  to  shew  him  in 
sparing  his  life,  yet  hee  cannot  but  look  vpon  kimselfc 
as  wronged,  in  that  Scqucwson,  as  hee  Is  informed,  is  set 
up  and  endeauoured  to  bee  made  a  great  Sachem,  not 
withstanding  hee  hath  refused  to  pay  an  acknoul- 
idgment  of  Wampam  to  him  according  to  engage 
ments." 

Of  this  acknowledgement,  no  proof  appears  but 
the  Sachem's  own  assertion ;  and  whether  true  or 
not,  no  real  cause  of  complaint  can  be  gathered  from 
the  whole  context.  The  Commissioners,  with  their 
usual  complaisance,  "  disclaimed  any  Endeauors  of 
theirs  to  make  Sequassen  great,  and  are  ignorant  of 


288  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

what  hee  afeirmes  concerning  the  other  [acknowl 
edgernent]  yet  recommended  it  to  the  Gouernment 
of  Conecticot  to  examine  the  case,  and  tc  provide 
vpon  due  proofe  Vncas  may  be  owned  in  what  may 
be  just  and  equal],  and  Mr.  Ludlow  was  entreated 
to  promote  the  same."  This  passage  will  be  found 
in  the  Records  for  1651.  No  subsequent  mention 
is  made  of  the  suit. 

It  might  be  a  subject  of  some  speculation,  what 
were  the  causes  of  the  extraordinary  partiality  of 
the  English  for  Uricas ;  and  especially  what  were 
the  means  whereby  he  counteracted  the  strong  cur 
rent  of  reproach  which  set  against  him  from  all  other 
quarters.  Different  opinions  have  been  entertained 
upon  this  point.  We  suppose,  however,  the  Com 
missioners  considered  it  good  policy,  to  select  some 
one  among  the  principal  uncivilized  and  unsubject- 
ed  Indian  chiefs,  to  be  made  a  channel  of  intercourse 
and  influence  with  and  over  all.  This  one  would 
naturally  be  the  most  ambitious,  and  at  the  same 
time  least  scrupulous  of  the  number.  Such  was 
Uncas  ;  and  hence  it  was,  that  with  his  shrewdness, 
he  found  no  difficulty  in  maintaining  a  tolerably 
good  understanding  with  them  under  all  circum 
stances.  The  'Proud  Ninigret'  disdained  the 
English  interference.  Massassoit  protected  rather 
than  courted  them.  Sassacus  fought  them  at  the 
first  provocation.  Philip  hated  them  and  kept  aloof: 
and  Miantonomo,  though  he  met  them  and  treated 
them  as  friends,  yet  forgot  not  a  soul  of  his  own, 
more  sovereign  than  his  royal  blood.  But  Uncas 
was  neither  more  nor  less  than  their  humble  servant. 
He  fought  for  them,  and  gave  evidence  for  them, 
with  about  the  same  alacrity,  and  the  same  indiffer 
ence  as  to  subject  or  occasion,  antagonist  or  defend 
ant. 

Whenever  complaints  were  made  against  himself, 
he  of  course  had  resources  for  defence.  There  was 
something  in  the  testimony  he  could  generally 
bring  forward  in  his  favor ;  and  still  more  in  the  in- 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  289 

genuity  of  his  explanations,  or  the  humility  of  hia 
acknowledgements  and  apologies.  Other  Sachems, 
irritated  by  suspicion  and  accusation,  frequently 
committed  themselves  in  reality  by  rash  speeches 
and  rude  acts.  But  Uncas  never  lost  sight  of  hia 
interest  in  his  pride. 

The  pliability  of  Indian  evidence,  and  the  mano3U- 
vres  of  Indian  politicians,  appear  singularly  in  the 
case  of  Necwash  Cooke.  Uncas  was  at  New  Haven, 
attending  a  meeting  of  the  Commissioners,  in  1646, 
when  one  William  Morton  came  forward,  and  charg 
ed  him  with  having  hired  Wampushet,  a  Pequot 
Powah  then  present,  "by  himselfe  or  some  other 
with  a  hatchet  to  wounde  another  Indian  and  lay  it 
vpon  Neckwash  Cooke."  The  consideration  for  the 
bargain  was  said  to  be  fifteen  fathoms  of  wampum, 
and  the  Indian  was  assaulted  according  to  the  terms. 
After  some  inquiry  into  the  evidence,  Wampushet 
himself  was  brought  upon  the  stand,  and  questioned 
by  the  English  interpreter.  Much  to  the  astonish* 
ment  of  Mr.  Morton,  and  of  the  Pequots  who  came 
into  court  with  him,  he  cleared  Uncas  and  cast  the 
plot  upon  Cooke  himself,  and  Robin,  Mr.  Winthrop^i 
Indian  ;  and  though  the  other  two  Pequots,  whereof 
one  was  Robin's  brother,  were  much  offended, "  and 
after  [afterwards]  said  Uncas  had  hired  him  to  with- 
drawe  and  alter  his  chardge,  yet  hee  persisted  and 
said  Necwash  Cooke  and  Robin  had  giuen  him  a 
payre  of  breeches  and  promised  him  twenty-five 
fadorne  of  wain  pom  to  cast  the  plott  vpon  Uncas." 

As  to  the  main  allegation  in  Cooke's  case,  which 
was  proved,  the  Sachem  acknowledged  some  mis 
carriages  or  misdemeanors  in  vindicating  what  he 
called  his  right,  so  near  the  English  plantations, — but 
alleged  provocation.  Then  follows  the  sentence. 

1.  That  it  was  an  error  to  quarrel  with  Cooke 
to   the  public  disturbance,  without  consent  of  the 
English. 

2.  That  to  do  it  near  an  English  plantation  waa 
worse  still ;  and  the  Commissioners  required  him  to 

10—19 


290  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

acknowledge  his  fault  to  that  plantation,  (as  he  did  tc 
themselves)  and  by  promise  to  secure  them  from  any 
such  disturbance  for  the  future. 

For  Uncas  it  was  an  easy  matter  to  make  such  satis 
faction.  But  as  if  it  was  thought  too  harsh  by  those 
who  decreed  it,  they  took  occasion  at  the  same  time 
to  sweeten  the  dispensation  with  promises  of  protec 
tion  and  professions  of  respect.  After  all,  so  strong 
was  the  additional  testimony  advanced  against  him 
on  the  same  matters,  at  the  next  session,  that  they 
were  induced  to  modify  their  decision  as  follows : — 
"  All  which  being  duly  considered  the  insolency  and 
outrage  of  Vncus  and  his  men  appeared  much  more 
heinous  than  the  complaints  at  Newhaven  the  last 
yeere  imported.  The  Commissioners  (having  the 
last  yeere  ordered  that  Vncus  should  acknowledge 
his  fault  to  the  English  plantation,  which  they  heare 
he  performed  in  Captain  Mason's  presence)  thought 
fitt  now  to  add  that  vpon  the  return  of  the  Pequots 
to  his  subjection  Vncus  foorthwith  pay  into  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Jo.  Winthrop,  to  be  by  him  divided  to 
the  English  and  ould  Pequots  and  other  innocent 
Indians,  towards  the  repaire  of  theire  losses  in  pro 
portion  as  he  shall  finde  cause,  one  hundred  fathome 
of  wamparn." 

We  conclude  these  expositions  with  a  literal  copy 
from  Hazard,  of  one  of  the  last  formal  messages  of 
complaint  sent  by  the  Commissioners  to  Uncas, 
together  with  his  answer.  The  date  is  166] : 

"  Vncus 

We  have  Receiued  Information  and  Complaint 
from  the  Generall  Court  of  Massachusetts  of  youer 
hostile  Invading  of  Wosamequin  and  the  Indians  of 
Quabakutt  whoe  are  and  longe  haue  bine  Subjects 
to  the  English  killing  some  and  Carrying  away 
others  captiues  spoyling  tbeire  goods  to  the  vallue 
of  331b.  as  they  alledge,  and  all  this  contrary  to  youer 
couenant  and  promise  to  the  Comissioners  seuerall 
times  Renewed,  not  to  make  warr  against  any  of  our 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  291 

Tributaries  without  the  allowance  of  the  Comission- 
ers  wee  aisoe  vnderstand  that  the  General!  Court  of 
Massachusetts  whose  subjects  the  said  Indians  are, 
haue  formerly  signified  theire  offence  vnto  you  Re 
quiring  the  Returne  of  youer  Captiues  and  Satisfac 
tion  for  the  wronge  you  haue  done  to  which  you 
haue  not  returned  any  answare  which  seemes  to  bee 
an  Insolent  and  proud  carriage  of  youers  wee  cannot 
but  wonder  att  it  and  must  beare  witnes  against  it 
and  doe  heerby  will  and  require  you  forthwith  to 
returne  the  said  Captiues  with  due  Satisfaction  for 
other  wrongs  done  them  or  to  make  out  sufficient 
grounds  and  Reesons  for  youer  Invading  the  said 
Indians  the  which  you  are  speedily  to  send  to  the 
Governor  of  the  Massachusetts  and  if  it  appeer  they 
haue  done  you  any  wronge  vpon  due  proofe  wee 
shall  take  care  that  they  may  make  you  satisfaction 
if  you  shall  neglect  to  obserue  our  order  and  Injunc 
tion  herein  contained  ;  wee  must  leaue  the  Massa 
chusetts  to  Right  themselues  as  formerly  signifyed 
vnto  you  :  in  which  case  wee  must  oune  and  if  need 
bee  assist  our  Confederates  ; 

The  Comisioners  of  the  Vnited  Collonies  ;»' 
(Signed) 

SAMUEL  WILLIS      THOMAS  PRENCE  Presedent 
Plymouth  the  13th.     WILLIAME  LEETE  SIMON  BRADSTREET 
of  September  1661.      BENJAMIN  FEN        DANIEL  DENISOPC 

THOMAS  SOUTHWORTH." 

Then  follows  the  answer  given  in  on  behalf  of 
(Jncas  by  Major  Mason.  As  nothing  more  is  heard 
of  the  affair,  it  may  be  presumed  that  the  reasons 
alleged  were  considered  sufficient. 

"  Whereas  there  was  a  warrant  sent  from  the 
Court  of  Boston  dated  in  May  last  to  Vncus  wherein 
it  was  declared  upon  the  Complaint  of  Wosamequen 
that  the  said  Vncus  had  offered  a  great  violence  to 
theire  Subjects  at  quabauk  killing  some  and  taking 
others  captiue;  which  warrant  came  not  to  Vncub 
aboue  20  daies  before  these  presents  whoe  being  sum 
moned  by  Major  John  Mason  in  the  full  scope  of  the 


292  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

said  warrant  wherin  hee  was  chardged  if  hee  did  not 
Returne  the  Captiues  and  thirty-three  pounds  dam 
age  then  the  Massachusetts  would  Recouer  it  by 
force  of  arrnes  which  to  him  was  very  grieuous ; 
professing  hee  was  altogether  ignorant  they  were  sub 
jects  belonging  to  the  Massachusetts  and  further  said 
they  were  none  of  Wesamequen's  men  but  belong 
ing  to  Onopequin  his  deadly  enemie  whoe  was  there 
borne ;  one  of  the  men  then  taken  was  his  oune 
Cousin,  who  had  formerly  fought  against  him  in  his 
oune  person  ;  and  yett  sett  him  at  libertie  and  further 
saith  that  all  the  Captiues  were  sent  home  alsoe  that 
Wesamequin's  son  and  diuers  of  his  men  had  fought 
against  him  diuers  times  this  hee  desired  might  bee 
returned  as  his  answare  to  the  Commissioners." 

Concessions  of  this  nature  it  was — which  no  other 
Indian  Sachem  of  equal  power  ever  submitted  to — 
that  went  farther  than  anything  else  to  keep  Uncas 
secure  in  the  English  favor.  His  actual  services, 
which  were  considerable,  have  been  alluded  to.  His 
tribe  were  an  out-guard  for  the  settlements  in  Con 
necticut.  After  selling  the  town  of  Norwich,  that 
place  being  first  colonized  in  a  period  of  general  ex 
citement  and  hostility  among  the  tribes,  the  Mohegans 
kept  out  spies  and  runners  to  give  the  inhabitants 
intelligence  of  their  enemies'  movements,  and  were 
a  continual  defence  against  them.  In  times  of  greater 
danger,  they  often  moved,  and  pitched  their  wigwams 
near  the  town.  On  one  occasion,  a  hostile  party  of 
savages  approached  the  outskirts,  on  the  Sabbath, 
with  a  design  to  make  a  descent  upon  the  village ; 
but  viewing  it  from  an  eminence,  and  seeing  the  Mo- 
hegan  huts,  they  were  intimidated,  and  retreated 
without  doing  the  least  damage. 

The  sale  just  mentioned  was  but  one  of  a  large 
number  with  which  Uncas  was  always  ready  to 
oblige  his  civilized  friends,  and  which  constituted 
another  claim  to  their  good  will.  In  1648,  on  receiv 
ing  presents  to  his  satisfaction,  he  conveyed  to  the 
Governor  and  Magistrates  of  the  English  on  Con 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  293 

necticur:  river  all  his  lands,  called  by  whatever  name, 
reserving  only  the  ground  then  planted  by  him  for 
himself  and  his  tribe.  In  1641,  he  granted  to  Henry 
Whitefield  and  others,  certain  lands  near  Guilford, 
in  consideration  of  four  coats,  two  kettles,  four  fath 
oms  of  wampum,  four  hatchets,  and  three  hoes.  In 
1659,  he  granted  all  his  lands,  with  all  his  corn,  to 
his  old  comrade  and  friend.  Major  John  Mason,  who 
the  next  year  surrendered  it  to  the  Colony  of  Con 
necticut  Trumbull  says,  that  the  individual  towns 
in  this  great  tract  were  very  generally  purchased, 
either  of  him  or  his  successors,  a  second  or  third  time. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  a  very  late  mention  made  of 
Uncas  in  history,  casts  an  imputation  upon  his  friend 
ship  for  the  English.  "  It  is  suggested  by  them  who 
know  him  best " — says  Hubbard  in  his  Narrative — 
"  that  in  his  heart  he  is  no  better  affected  to  the  Eng 
lish,  or  their  religion,  than  the  rest  of  his  countrymen, 
and  that  it  hath  been  his  own  advantage  hath  led 
him  to  be  this  time,"  &c.  This  was  written  in  1677. 
Only  two  years  previous,  at  the  commencement  of 
Philip's  war,  it  was  reported  to  governor  Winslow 
of  Plymouth,  that  the  Mohegan  Sachem  had  sent 
twenty  men  to  join  his  Pokanoket  brother,  with  a 
message  that  if  Philip  would  send  him  six  English 
heads,  all  the  Indians  in  kis  territories  would  go  for 
him.*  Uncas  is  last  heard  of  in  1680,  when  he  must 
have  been  a  very  old  man,  though  still  likely,  we  are 
told,  to  survive  all  his  enemies.f 

The  best  comment  on  the  Sachem's  husbandry  of 
his  own  interest  is  perhaps,  after  all,  in  the  fact  that  a 
remnant  of  his  tribe  exists  to  this  day,  (on  a  reserva 
tion  of  about  three  thousand  acres  of  land,)  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Norwich ;  and  are  the  only  natives 
yet  lingering  within  the  limits  of  the  state.  The  last 
sachem  of  the  tribe  was  Isa:ah  Uncas,  once  a  pupil 
in  the  famous  school  of  Dr.  Wheelock,  at  Lebanon. 

•  Sixth  Vol.  Mast.  Coll.  Firtt  Seriet. 
t  Hubbard's  General  History. 


294  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

The  following  epitaph,  copied  by  President  Stiles 
from  a  grave-stone  in  the  old  Indian  burial-ground 
at  Mohegan,  indicates  the  end  of  the  genealogy  : 

Here  lies  the  body  of  SUNSEETO, 

Own  son  to  Uncas,  grandson  to  ONEKO, 

Who  were  the  famous  sachems  of  MOHEAGAN; 

But  now  they  are  all  dead,  I  think  it  is  WERHEEGEW  * 

*  The  Mohegan  term  for  All  if  well  or  Good-news.     One* 
ko,  or  Onecho,  is  the  same  who  commanded  in  Philip's  war 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  296 


CHAPTER  XV 

.rdianswho  submitted  *o  Massachusetts — The  Gortonista — 
POMHAM,  Sachem  of  Shaornet,  and  S  A  CONOCO  complain  of 
them — Submit  to  the  Government — Their  examination  and 
entertainment — Policy  of  Massachusetts  in  the  case  of  Pom- 
nam — He  and  Saconoco  much  harassed  by  their  neighbors 
— Subsequent  history — Pomliam  takes  part  in  Philip's  war 
and  is  killed — CANON CHET,  son  ol'Miantonomo— His  agree 
ment  of  October,  1675 — WEETAMORE,  Squaw-Sachem  of 
Pocasset — Canonchet's  career  during  Philip's  war — Partic 
ulars  of  his  surprisal  and  death — His  character — Anecdotes 
— His  reputation  with  the  English — Defence  of  his  condua 

Among  a  considerable  number  of  chieftains  who 
submitted  to  the  Massachusetts  Government,  were 
several  whose  territory  was  without  their  jurisdic 
tion,  and  in  some  cases  within  that  of  other  Govern 
ments.  The  most  notorious  case  of  this  kind  is 
connected  with  that  much-discussed  transaction  in 
which  the  notorious  Gorton  and  his  associates  were 
engaged  ;  and  by  which  they  brought  themselves  into 
a  disagreeable  collision  with  civil  and  martial  authori 
ties  in  all  directions. 

To  explain  that  affair  very  briefly, — Gorton,  having 
become  obnoxious  as  the  founder  of  a  new  religious 
sect,  left  the  Massachusetts  jurisdiction  for  Plymouth. 
Here  he  met  with  much  the  same  treatment.  He 
was  whipped  for  disturbing  the  Church,  and  required 
to  find  sureties  for  his  good  behavior;  which  not 
being  able  to  do,  he  either  removed  or  was  driven  to 
Rhode  Island.  There  he  treated  the  Court  with  con 
tempt,  and  by  order  of  Governor  Coddington  was 
imprisoned  and  again  whipped.  He  then  took  ref 
uge  in  Providence,  where  Roger  Williams,  though 
he  disliked  his  principles,  yet  gave  him  shelter.  But 
he  had  hardly  located  himself)  and  begun  to  gather 
a  company  of  disciples  around  him,  when  the  neigh 
boring  English  settlers  complained  of  him  to  Massa- 


296  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

chuse.it  s<  under  the  apprehension  that  he  was  about 
to  supplant  their  own  possessions  by  purchasing  the 
Patuxet  territory  from  the  Narragansett  original 
owners.  Massachusetts  issued  a  warrant  to  thw 
Providence  people  to  submit  to  their  jurisdiction 
Gorton  denied  their  authority  to  interfere  with  him 
or  his  company,  where  they  now  were,  and  signified 
this  opinion  in  a  contemptuous  letter. 

But,  perhaps  for  the  sake  of  being  still  farther 
out  of  the  reach  of  Massachusetts,  or  from  discord 
among  themselves,  the  Gortonists  soon  removed 
to  a  tract  of  land  called  by  the  Indians  Shaomet 
or  Showamet,  (since  Warwick  in  Rhode  Island,) 
having  previously  purchased  it  of  Miantonomo,  for 
the  consideration  of  one  hundred  and  forty-four 
fathoms  of  wampum,  "  with  the  free  and  joint  con 
sent,  [as  the  deed  itself  is  expressed]  of  the  present 
inhabitants,  being  natives."  The  instrument  was 
dated  January  12, 1642-3,  and  was  subscribed  with  a 
bow  and  arrow  as  the  mark  of  the  grantor,  and  of  a 
hatchet,  a  gun,  &c.,  as  the  marks  of  "  the  Sachem  of 
Shaomet,  POMHAM,"  and  other  Indians.  Possession 
was  given  upon  the  premises,  at  the  same  time. 

From  this  moment,  Pomham, — who,  though  he 
signed  the  deed  of  conveyance,  and  was  offered  a 
share  of  the  consideration,  (which  he  would  not 
accept,)  affected  to  consider  himself  aggrieved, — 
neither  gave  rest  to  his  neighbors,  nor  found  any  for 
himself.  Whether,  according  to  the  relation  which 
existed  between  himself  and  Miantonomo,  and  the 
customary  degree  of  subjection  attached  to  it,  he  had 
reason  to  complain  of  that  chieftain  in  the  present 
case,  cannot  well  be  decided.  But  it  may  be  safely 
said,  that  the  part  soon  afterwards  taken  by  Massa 
chusetts,  was  at  least  an  unusual  stretch-of  authority, 
however  it  might  correspond  with  the  general  policy 
of  that  government  wherever  the  formidable  Narra- 
ghansett  Sachem  was  concerned. 

Whether  at  his  own  suggestion  or  that  of  others, 
Pomham,  and  SACONOCO,  a  Sachem  equally  interest- 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  297 

ed  in  the  land,  but  otherwise  of  no  note  in  history, 
went  to  Boston  a  few  months  after  the  sale,  and  by 
an  interpreter,  made  complaint  of  the  manosuvres  of 
the  Gortonists  whereby,  as  they  alleged,  Miantono- 
mo  had  been  induced  to  compel  them  to  an  arbitra 
ry  disposal  of  their  territory.  They  further  desired 
to  be  received  under  the  protection  of  Massachusetts, 
and  withal  brought  a  small  present  of  wampum.  The 
matter  being  referred  to  the  next  Court,  and  Gorton 
and  Miantonomo  notified  to  attend,  the  latter  made 
his  appearance.  He  was  required  to  prove  the  in 
terest  he  had  claimed  in  the  Shaomet  Sachems  and 
territory,  but  it  is  said  he  could  prove  none ;  and 
upon  the  testimony  of  Cutchamequin  and  other  In 
dians  who  were  present,  it  appeared  that  the  Shao 
met  chiefs  were  not  tributary  to  the  Narraghansett, 
though  they  sometimes  made  him  presents, — a  mark 
of  deference  and  not  of  subjection.  Upon  this  an 
order  was  passed,  authorizing  the  Governor  and  cer 
tain  magistrates  to  treat  with  the  applicants  at  their 
discretion.* 

These  Commissioners  soon  after  conferred  with 
the  Sachems  ;  and,  giving  them  to  understand  upon 
what  terms  they  should  be  received,  "they  found 
them  very  pliable  to  all."  So,  indeed,  it  might  be 
inferred  from  the  answers  made  by  the  Sachems  to 
the  requisitions  touching  the  ten  commandments. 
The  servility  which  some  of  them  indicate — as  rep 
resented  in  the  Commissioners'  report,  at  least, — is 
hardly  redeemed  by  the  shrewd  simplicity  of  others. 

Being  asked  if  they  would  worship  the  true  God, 
and  not  blaspheme  him,  they  waived  the  first  clause, 
and  replied  thus  to  the  latter.  "  We  desire  to  speak 
reverently  of  the  Englishman's  God,  and  not  to 
speak  evil,  because  we  see  Englishman's  God  doth 
better  for  them  than  other  Gods  do  for  others." 

As  to  *  swearing  falsely,'  they  replied,  that  they 
never  knew  what  swearing  was,  or  what  an  oath 

*  VVinthrop's  Journal,  Vol.  II. 


298  I.VJPIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

was.  As  to  working  unnecessarily  on  the  Christian 
Sabbath, — "  It  is  a  small  thing,"  answered  they,  "  for 
us  to  rest  on  that  day,  for  we,  have,  not  much  to  do  any 
day,  and  therefore  we  will  forbear  on  that  day*' 

In  regard  to  honoring  parents  and  seniors,  they 
eaid,  "  It  is  our  custom  to  do  so,  for  when  if  we  com 
plain  to  the  Governor  of  the  Massachusetts  that  we 
have  wrong,  if  they  tell  us  we,  lie,  we  shall  patiently 
bear  it."  The  following  articles  are  also  part  of  the 
report : 

5.  Not  to  kill  any  man  but  upon  just  cause  ami 
good  authority,  &c.    Answer.     It  is  good,  and  we 
desire  to  do  so. 

6.  Not  to  commit  fornication,  stealing  &c.  Answei 
Though  they  be  committed  among  us,  we  allow  it 
riot,  but  judge  it  evil. 

8.  For  lying,  they  say  it  is  an  evil,  and  shall  not 
allow  it.  And  finally,  as  to  being  christianized,  they 
said,  "  as  opportunity  serveth  by  the  English  corning 
among  us,  we  desire  to  learn  their  manners." 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  right  of  Massa 
chusetts  to  interfere  in  this  case,  and  especially  of 
the  policy  of  interfering  as  regarded  the  Narraghan- 
setts  and  the  other  colonies,  it  must  be  admitted,  that 
the  submission  itself,  so  far  as  concerned  the  appli 
cants,  was  conducted  with  the  honesty,  as  well  as 
civility,  generally  characteristic  of  the  intercourse  of 
that  Government  with  the  natives. 

The  Governor  having  sent  for  the  Sachems  to 
appear  at  Boston  on  the  22d  of  April,  (1643)  they 
attended,  with  their  interpreter.  The  submission 
was  then  explained  to  their  entire  satisfaction.  They 
were  also  expressly  informed,  that  they  were  not  to 
be  considered  confederates,  but  subjects,  to  which 
they  manifested  their  assent.  So,  adds  the  historian, 
they  dined  in  the  same  room  with  the  Governor,  at 
a  table  by  themselves,  and  having  much  countenance 
shown  them  by  all  present,  and  being  told  that  they 
and  their  men  should  always  be  welcome  to  the 
English,  provided  they  Brought  a  note  froi,  i  Benedict 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  299 

Arnold  (their  interpreter,)  and  having  some  small 
things  bestowed  upon  them  by  the  Governor,  they 
departed  joyful  and  well  satisfied.  The  submission 
was  as  follows : 

"This  writing  is  to  testify,  that  we,  POMHAM, 
Sachern  of  Showamet,  and  SACHONOCHO,  Sachem  of 
Patuxet,  have  and  by  these  presents  do  voluntarily 
and  without  any  constraint  or  persuasion,  but  of  our 
own  free  motion,  put  ourselves,  our  subjects,  lands 
and  estates  under  the  government  and  jurisdiction  of 
Massachusetts,  to  be  governed  and  protected  by 
them  according  to  their  just  laws  and  orders,  so  far 
as  we  shall  be  made  capable  of  understanding  them; 
and  we  do  promise,  for  ourselves,  our  subjects,  and 
all  our  posterity,  to  be  true  and  faithful  to  the  Gov 
ernment  and  aiding  to  the  maintenance  thereof  to 
our  best  ability  ;  and  from  time  to  give  speedy  notice 
of  any  conspiracy,  attempt,  or  evil  intentions  of  any 
we  shall  know  or  hear  of  against  the  same,  and  do 
promise  to  be  willing  from  time  to  time  to  be  in 
structed  in  the  knowledge  of  the  worship  of  God. 
In  witness  whereof,  we  have  hereunto  put  our  hands 
the  22d  of  the  4th  month,  1643. 

The  y  mark  The  9  mark 

of  SACONOCO.  of  POMHAM." 

Thus  was  consummated  the  title  of  Massachusetts 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Shaornet  land.  It  was  at 
this  very  time,  as  well  as  afterwards,  claimed  also  by 
Plymouth,  and  by  Rhode  Island.*  Gorton  always 
alleged,  that  it  belonged  to  Miantonomo,  and  that 
Pornharn  was  secretly  influenced  by  Massachusetts 
to  withdraw  from  him  and  seek  protection  under  their 
authority.  No  doubt  that  Government  was  sufficient 
ly  aware  of  the  interest  they  had,  not  only  in  hum 
bling  the  Gorton  ists,  but  in  extending  their  jurisdic 
tion  as  far  as  possible  towards  or  into  the  territory 
of  the  Narraghansett  chieftain,  then,  as  Hutchinson 

*Wintlirop,  Vol.  II.  pp.  251.  ind  317. 


300  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

cnlls  him,  the  greatest  and  most  powerful  sachem  of 
New  England.  Speaking  of  the  petition  of  certain 
settlers,  in  1645,  for  permission  to  begin  a  plantation, 
where  Gorton  and  his  company  had  erected  three 
or  four  small  houses  "  on  the  land  of  Pomham,  who 
had  submitted  himself,"  &c.  Mr.  Winthrop  himself 
states,  that  the  Court  readily  granted  their  petition, 
promising  all  encouragement,  &c. — "  for  it  was  of 
great  concernment  to  all  the  English  in  these  parts, 
that  a  strong  plantation  should  be  there,  as  a  bulwark 
fyc.  against  the  JVdrraghansetts.n  It  may  be,  that  this 
consideration  assumed,  in  the  view  of  the  Massachu 
setts  Government,  the  imperious  interest  of  what  is 
commonly  called  State-necessity. 

Hence  the  measures  occasionally  adopted  subse 
quent  to  the  submission,  for  affording  Pomham  the 
promised  relief;  a  policy  which  certainly  accorded 
better  with  their  stipulations  to  him,  than  with  their 
relations  to  some  other  parties.  The  Gortonists 
harassed  him  beyond  measure,  but  they  were  at 
length  subdued.  The  Narraghansetts,  (after  Mian- 
tonomo's  death,)  threatened  and  frightened  him  still 
more.  In  April  1645,  "  that  it  might  really  appear 
that  the  Massachusetts  did  own  and  would  protect 
him,"  which  would  seem  to  have  been  heretofore 
doubted,  an  order  was  taken  for  sending  men  and  an 
officer  to  Shaomet,  to  stay  there  a  few  days,  and  act 
on  the  defensive  against  the  Narraghansetts.*  These 
men  being  volunteers,  however,  refused  to  go,  unless 
they  were  each  paid  ten  shillings  a  week,  furnished 
with  arms  and  ammunition,  and  allowed  such  booty 
as  they  might  be  able  to  collect  in  case  of  fighting. 
Whereupon  the  Court,  not  choosing  to  establish  such 
a  precedent,  sent  word  to  Pomham,  that  the  required 
force  would  be  at  his  disposal,  whenever  he  should 
forward  sufficient  funds  to  enable  them  to  perform. 
On  the  earnest  importunity  of  the  Sachem,  early  in 
May,  his  request  was  finally  granted ;  and,  with  tha 
*id  of  the  English ,  he  erected  a  fort  upon  his  lands 

*  Wiutlirnp. 


INDIAN     BIOGRAPHY.  301 

This  was  in  1646.  But  Pom  ham  and  Sacono 
to  were  not  destined  quietly  to  enjoy  their  posses 
sions,  as  the  following  detail  from  Mr.  Winthrop's 
records  for  1647,  will  abundantly  illustrate.  The 
Gortonists  had  at  that  period  returned  to  Shaomet, 
which  they  now  named  Warwick;  and,  as  the 
Sachems  alleged  before  the  Commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies,  manifested  a  decided  disposition 
"for  eating  up  all  their  corn,  with  their  cattle,"  &c 
These  functionaries  hereupon  wrote  to  certain  per 
sons  in  the  vicinity  of  the  premises,  to  view  the 
damages,  and  require  satisfaction;  which  process, 
however,  had  scarcely  been  commenced,  when  Jus  • 
tice  Coggleshall  and  others  from  Rhode  Island  came 
to  Shaomet,  claimed  jurisdiction  for  that  colony  over 
the  land  in  question,  and  forbade  the  appraisers  to 
proceed.  Upon  this,  the  latter  returned  home. 
Another  warrant  was  issued,  with  the  same  result 
Pomham  was  reduced  to  extremities ;  but  still  undis- 
couraged,  he  renewed  his  complaints  once  more. 
Massachusetts  now  sent  three  special  messengers,  to 
demand  satisfaction  of  the  trespassers,  and  to  warn 
them  to  leave  the  territory.  The  application  did  no 
good :  and  therefore,  "  as  we  could  do  no  more  at 
present,"  writes  Mr.  Winthrop,  "we  procured  the 
Indians  some  corn  in  the  mean  time."  The  mea 
sures  subsequently  taken  for  redress,  it  would  be 
alike  tedious  and  needless  to  enumerate. 

As  to  Pomham,  with  whom  we  have  chiefly  to  do, 
it  must  be  confessed,  that  his  character  assumes  but 
little  dignity  throughout  this  proceeding.  In  after 
times,  his  career  was  occasionally  more  independent, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  gave  evidence  that  his  early 
attachment  to  the  English  was  by  no  means  one  of 
indissoluble  affection,  or  of  principle  sacred  in  his 
own  eyes.  It  is  not  a  little  remarkable,  that  after 
all  the  trouble  and  expense  taken  and  incurred  by 
and  between  the  colonies,  and  especially  by  Massa 
chusetts,  for  his  protection  ;  and  notwithstanding  the 
authorities  of  the  latter  government  fondly  and  we 


302  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

trust  sincerely  represented  his  submission  as  the  frui 
of  their  prayers,  and  the  first  fruit  of  their  hopes,  in 
the  great  process  of  civilizing  and  christianizing 
the  natives  ;*  this  incorrigible  savage  not  only  loosen 
ed  his  connexion  with  the  English,  but  engaged 
against  them,  with  his  whole  force  and  influence,  in 
the  great  war  of  King  Philip. 

That  course,  fatal  as  it  was  to  himself  and  his  in 
terests,  was  upon  the  whole  the  most  creditable 
passage  of  his  life.  And  once  adopted,  he  pursued 
it  with  an  energy  that  altogether  sets  aside  any 
doubts  which  his  former  course  might  suggest,  in 
regard  to  his  real  temperament  and  genius.  Even 
Philip  was  scarcely  more  feared  than  Pomham. 
Historians  universally,  while  they  now  call  him  a 
Narraghansett,  as  evidently  he  had  determined  to 
consider  himself,  place  him  in  the  highest  rank 
among  the  Sachems  of  that  warlike  and  powerful 
tribe.  He  did  not  even  pretend  to  neutrality  in  the 
early  part  of  the  war,  as  they  did.  He  did  not  sign 
either  the  treaty  of  July,  (1675)  negotiated  at  the  point 
of  the  English  bayonet  in  his  own  territory,  or  the 
submission  executed  in  October  following  at  Boston, 
although  upon  the  latter  occasion  one  of  his  fellow- 
chieftains  affected  to  sign  for  him.  This,  at  best,  like 
every  other  part  and  circumstance  of  the  cornpro 
mise,  was  a  mere  artifice,  meant  to  divert  the  Govern 
ment  by  a  show  of  satisfaction  and  amity. 

During  Philip's  war  the  territory  of  Pomham  was 
ravaged  far  and  wide,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
wigwams  destroyed  by  fire  at  one  time,  in  Decem 
ber,  1675.  Whether  this  chief  was  in  the  deci 
sive  and  bloody  battle  of  the  19th,  or  in  what  other 
engagements  he  was  during  the  war,  history  does 
not  determine.  He  was  finally  slain  in  July,  1G76, 
a  few  weeks  previous  to  the  death  of  Philip,  and 
the  consequent  close  of  that  contest,  the  most  crit 
ical  and  the  most  furious  ever  waged  between  the 

*  Winthton 


l.VIJl  AN     BIOGRAPHY  303 

red  man  and  the  white.  Great  was  the  exultation 
of  the  conquerors  over  this  first  success,  so  encour 
aging  to  themselves,  and  so  disastrous  to  their 
savage  and  terrible  foes.  The  event  took  place  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Dedham,  (in  Massachusetts) 
where  Pomham,  with  a  small  band  of  faithful  war 
riors,  half-starved  and  desperate,  were  still  roaming 
the  woods  in  the  close  vicinity  of  the  English  settle 
ments.  About  fifty  Indians  were  captured  ;  and  the. 
Sachem  seems  to  have  been  the  only  man  of  the 
company  who  would  not  be  taken  alive.  "That 
which  increased  the  victory,"  says  Mr.  Hubbard, 
"  was  the  slaughter  of  POMHAM,  which  was  one  of 
the  Stoutest  Sachems  that  belonged  to  the  Narraghan- 
setts.'1* 

His  spirit  and  strength  were  such,  that  after  being 
mortally  wounded  in  the  fight,  so  that  he  could  not 
stand,  he  caught  hold  of  an  English  soldier  who 
came  near  him,  and  had  nearly  destroyed  him  by 
his  violence,  when  the  poor  fellow  was  rescued  by 
his  comrades,  and  the  dying  chieftain  relieved  at 
once  from  his  agony  and 'his  foes.  He  had  little  to 
live  for,  had  there  been  a  disposition  to  spare  him 
His  territory  was  long  since  subjected  to  a  foreign 
power  by  his  own  act,  and  afterwards  desolated. 
His  subjects  were  dispersed  and  destroyed.  His 
grandson  had  been  slain  in  the  field  within  a  few 
months;  and  among  the  captives  at  the  time  of  his 
own  fall,  historians  particularly  notice  one  of  his 
sons,  "a  very  likely  youth,  and  one  whose  counte 
nance  would  have  bespoke  favor  for  him,  had  he  not 
belonged  to  so  bloody  and  barbarous  an  Indian  as  his 
father  was."  This  unfortunate  lad  was  probably 
executed,  by  order  of  the  Plymouth  government, 
together  with  the  other  principal  captives  of  the  last 
months  of  the  war.  At  best,  he  was  spared,  like 
the  son  of  Philip,  only  to  be  enslaved  in  a  foreign 
fend. 

*  Narrative  of  Indian  Wars.  It  will  he  observed  in  what 
«rms  the  true  allegiance  of  tlie  Sachem  is  mentioned. 


304  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

Among  other  distinguished  chieftains  of  the  Nar- 
raghansett  tribe,  who  perished  much  in  the  same 
manner,  and  about  the  same  time  with  the  last  named, 
was  NANUNTENOO  or  QUANANSHETT,  commonly  call 
ed  by  the  English  CANONCHET.  He  was  the  son  of 
Miantonorno,  and  probably,  after  the  death  of  Mex- 
ham  and  Pessacus,  succeeded  to  his  father's  high 
rank, — being  generally  entitled  by  historians  the  Chief- 
Sachem  of  his  tribe.  His  reputation,  both  with  his 
countrymen  and  his  foes,  was  worthy  of  the  noble 
blood  in  his  veins.  Mr.  Trumbull  observes,  that  he 
inherited  all  his  father's  pride,  and  all  his  insolence 
and  hatred  towards  the  English.  What  is  still  more 
conclusive  in  his  favor,  Mr.  Hubbard  calls  him  a 
'damned  wretch,'  enlarges  upon  his  cruelty  and 
blasphemy,  and  exults  over  his  final  destruction. 
This — not  the  facts  alleged,  (which  are  wholly  with 
out  proof,)  but  the  assertion — furnishes,  as  a  modern 
writer  has  aptly  remarked,  irresistible  evidence  of 
his  heroic  character. 

There  is  abundant  other  evidence,  however,  to 
the  same  effect.  The  only  ostensible  deference  of 
any  description  which  he  ever  paid  to  an  English 
authority— -detesting,  as  unquestionably  he  did,  their 
very  name — was  the  act  of  subscribing  the  cele 
brated  treaty  of  October  1675,  negotiated  at  Boston. 
The  object  of  it  was  to  quiet  the  jealousy  of  the 
English,  who  suspected  him  of  having  contracted 
engagements  with  Philip.  One  provision  went  to 
ratify  a  treaty  executed  at  Hartford  during  the 
month  of  July  previous,  (by  four  of  the  Narraghan- 
sett  Sachems,  nominally  in  behalf  of  all.)  Another 
and  the  principal  one,  was  expressed  thus :  * 

*  And  wheras  a  considerable  Number  of  people 
both  men  weomen  and  Children  appertaining  to 
those  Indians  who  haue  bin  in  actuall  hostillitie 
against  the  English  are  now  fled  to  the  Narraghan- 
"etts  Counlrey ;  and  are  vnder  the  Custody  of  the 

*  Records  of  the  Colonies. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  306 

said  Sachems  there ;  after  a  full  and  long  Conference 
had  concerning  that  matter,  wee  doe  in  the  Name 
and  by  the  Power  to  vs  giuen  and  betrusted  in  the 
behalfe  of  the  Sachems  of  the  aboue  said  Coun- 
trey  fully  and  absolutely  couenant  and  promise  to 
and  with  the  abouenamed  Comissioners  att  or  before 
the  28th  Day  of  this  Instant  month  of  October  to  de- 
liuer  or  cause  to  be  deliuered  all  and  euery  one  of 
the  Said  Indians,  whether  belonging  vnto  Phillip: 
the  Pocasset  Sqva*  or  the  Saconettf  Indians  Una- 
bang  had  ley  or  any  other  Sachems ;  or  people  that 
haue  bin  or  are  in  hostilitie  with  the  English  or  any 
of  theire  Allies  or  abettors ;  and  these  wee  promise 
and  Couenant  to  deliuer  att  Boston  to  the  Goueraor 
and  Councell  there  by  them  to  be  disposed  in  the 
behalfe  of  and  for  the  best  securitie  and  peace  of  the 
Vnited  Collonies. 

Sealed  and  deliuered  in 

tke  presence  of  vs.  QUANAKCHETTS  marke. 

RICHARD  SMITH  Sachem  in  the  behalfe  of  himselfe  and 

TAMES  BROWNE  Conanacus  and  the  old  Gueen  and  Pom 

SAMUEL  GORTON  IUNR.       ham  and  Quanapeen.         (Seal) 

Interpreters          MAMATANNOO  Cuuncellor 
JOHI*  NowHENETTg     marke        his  marke. 

Indian  Interprets :  and  Canannacus  in  hifl  behalfe 

(Seal) 

AHANMAwrowETTi  marke 

Councellor  and  his  (Seal) 

CORNMAN  cheiffe  Councellor  to 
NINNIORETT  in  his  behalfe  and  a  (Seal.)" 

*  Weetamore,  Weetamoe,  or  Weetanno,  a  kinswoman  of 
Philip,  and  the  active  ruler  of  the  tribe,  though  married  to  an 
insignificant  fellow  named  Peter  Nunnuit.  All  hei  subjects 
joined  Philip  with  herself,  excepting  Alderman,  who  had  the 
honor  of  shooting  that  Sachem  with  his  own  hand.  Weeta 
more  was  drowned  in  August,  1675,  attempting  to  escape  from 
the  English  over  a  stream  in  Swanzey;  and  her  head,  in  the 
barbarous  style  of  the  times,  was  set  upon  a  pole  at  Taunton, 
much  to  the  chagrin  of  such  of  her  tribe  as  were  compelled  to 
witness  the  spectacle.  Pocasset,  now  Tiverton,  was  on  the 
coast,  opposite  the  north  of  Rhode  Island. 

t  Or  Sogkonate ;  a  tribe  on  the  same  coast  with  the  Pocasset*, 
governed  also  by  a  Squaw-Sachem  named  AWASHONKS,  or 
Awasunck,  somewhat  celebrated  for  her  masculine  qualities, 

10—20 


306  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

It  is  well  known,  how  speedily  the  execution  of 
this  instrument  was  followed  up  by  sending  a  strong 
English  force  to  invade  the  Narraghansett  territory, 
and  subdue  that  spirited  people  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet.  Canonchet  is  supposed  to  have  been  enga 
ged  in  the  great  swamp-fight,  the  most  fatal  to  the  In 
dians,  and  they  most  desperately  fought  upon  their 
part,  of  the  whole  war.  It  continued  to  rage  with 
the  utmost  violence  for  three  hours  from  the  moment 
of  assault,  until  the  enemy's  wigwams,  to  the  number 
of  five  or  six  hundred,  were  fired,  and  the  field  of 
contest  became  almost  instantaneously  an  immense 
mass  of  terrific  conflagration.  The  Savages,  inspirit 
ed  by  their  leaders,  defended  every  wall  and  post 
with  the  fury  of  maniacs ;  and  when  they  at  length 
slowly  retreated,  they  left  the  ground  behind  them 
encumbered  with  heaps  of  the  slain.  Quarter  was 
neither  asked  nor  given.  Three  hundred  of  the 
Narraghansetts,  at  the  least  estimate,  are  supposed 
Co  have  been  killed,  besides  more  than  double  that 
number  wounded,  and  an  unknown  multitude  of 
women,  children  and  old  men  burnt  in  the  wigwams. 

But  the  victory  was  dearly  bought.  Of  the  one 
thousand  English  soldiers  of  which  the  civilized 
portion  of  the  invading  army  consisted,  according 
to  their  own  statement,  eighty  were  killed  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  wounded.  Abandoning  the  cap 
tured  fort,  they  retreated  sixteen  miles  the  same 
night — and  that  in  the  depth  of  winter — leaving  the 
enemy  to  return  the  next  day  to  their  former  position, 

It  is  not  our  intention  to  discuss  at  length  the  pro 
priety  of  the  summary  course  adopted  by  the  colo 
nies  in  this  case.     The  principal  offence  of  the  Nar 
raghansetts,  as  set  forth  in  the  Manifesto,  was  their 
evasion  and  delay  in  surrendering  the  hostile  Indians 

and  for  the  part  she  took  in  Philip's  war,  first  against  the  Eng 
lish  and  then  with  them.  Captain  Church,  who  effected  thia 
change  in  her  politics,  has  given  a  minute  account  of  his  in 
terviews  with  her.  Ten  of  her  tribe  were  living  in  Compton, 
a*  hue  as  1803. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  307 

who  took  refuge  in  their  country.  This  icfusal  was 
certainly  inconsistent  with  the  stipulations  of  July 
and  Octoher  preceding ;  but  these  stipulations  were 
enforced  in  the  first  instance  by  the  presence  of  an 
English  army,  which  had  already  invaded  the  Nar- 
raghansett  territory. 

Those  of  the  tribe  who  made  proposals  of  peace, 
immediately  after  the  swamp-fight,  imputed  the 
blame  of  hostilities  wholly  to  Canonchet.  He  had 
made  them  believe,  that  by  the  former  treaty  they 
were  not  obliged  to  surrender  Philip's  followers,  un 
til  his  brother,  (who,  with  three  other  Indians  of 
rank,  was  detained  as  a  hostage  at  Hartford,)  had 
been  released.  Probably,  Canonchet  did  not  him 
self  misunderstand  the  plain  provisions  of  that  in 
strument,  although,  as  he  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  present  at  the  execution  of  it,  it  might  be  mis 
represented  to  him.  It  is  more  likely,  that  he  con 
sidered  it  an  absolute  nullity,  as  having  been  obtain 
ed  by  force,  unjustly  and  insultingly  imposed.  The 
construction  referred  to  by  his  subjects,  he  counte 
nanced  with  the  view  of  overcoming  scruples  on 
their  part  in  the  protection  of  Philip's  Indians. 
Whether  that  protection — independently  of  the  forc 
ed  promise  to  surrender  the  refugees — was  or  was 
not  a  sufficient  cause  for  the  war  which  ensued,  it 
must  be  allowed  at  least  to  do  no  dishonor  to  the 
humanity  and  honor  of  Canonchet,  and  the  other 
Sachems,  who  persisted  in  that  policy  at  every  hazard 
and  almost  in  the  very  face  of  their  enemy.  With 
him  and  them  it  was  unquestionably  a  measure  of 
sacmi  principle.  No  noble-minded  chieftain  upon 
the  Continent,  educated  as  an  Indian  chieftain  al 
ways  is,  would  have  given  up  men  who  appealed  to 
their  hospitality — their  own  brethren,  in  distress  and 
nakedness,  driven  before  the  bayonet  of  a  mortal 
enemy  of  a  distinct  race  and  of  vastly  superior  pow 
er — and  least  of  all,  when,  if  surrendered,  they  were 
surrendered  to  a  certain  alternative  of  slavery  or 
doath.  Some  of  his  tribe  would  have  compromitted 


308  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

their  dignity  through  fear,  but  not  the  son  of  Mian- 
tonomo.  "  Deliver  the  Indians  of  Philip !"  said  the 
haughty  Sachem  at  one  time — "  Never !  Not  a  Wam- 
panoag  will  I  ever  give  up.  No ! — Not  the  paring  of 
a  Wampanoag's  nail !  " 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  history  of  the 
war  will  recollect,  that  the  most  critical  period  of  it 
was  immediately  subsequent  to  the  swamp-fight 
This  was  owing  to  the  desperate  exertions  of  the 
Narraghansetts,  and  especially  Canonchet  and  their 
other  Sachems.  They  were  indeed  driven  about  the 
country  far  and  wide,  and  reduced  to  such  extremi 
ties  for  food,  that  corn  sold  for  two  shillings  a  pint ; 
but  then*  sufferings  only  made  them  the  more  fero 
cious,  and  the  more  bold.  "That  young  insolent 
Sachem,  Canonchet,  (writes  Mr.  Hubbard,  in  his 
usual  complimentary  style,)  said  they  would  fight  it 
out  to  the  last  man,  rather  than  they  would  become 
servants  to  the  English." 

The  destruction  of  Lancaster  took  place  early  in 
February.  Medfield  was  desolated  ten  days  after 
wards ;  and  in  March  happened  that  memorable 
engagement,  not  far  from  Providence  and  upon  an 
cient  Narraghansett  ground,  in  which  Captain  Pierce 
with  his  detachment,  to  the  number  of  fifty  English 
soldiers,  were  cut  off  to  a  man.  Canonchet  com 
manded  in  this  affair.  The  spirit  of  his  warriors,  as 
well  as  the  superiority  of  the  English  skill  in  the  use 
of  their  arms,  appears  from  the  fact  that  the  Indians 
lost  between  one  and  two  hundred  killed.  Warwick, 
Seekonk,  and  Providence  were  next  successively 
ravaged  by  the  victorious  foe.  Plymouth  was  assault 
ed,  and  eleven  of  the  inhabitants  slaughtered ;  and 
another  party  had  the  courage  to  commit  horrible 
ravages  within  eleven  miles  of  Boston  itself.  The 
prospects  of  Philip  were  never  so  flattering  to  him 
self  and  so  disastrous  to  the  English,  as  at  this  memo 
rable  juncture,  when  the  exasperated  and  fearless  son 
of  Miantonomo  was  supporting  him  with  the  whole 
force  of  his  dominions. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  309 

The  manner  in  which  the  Narraghansett  Sachems 
created  Roger  Williams,  at  this  period,  amid  all  the 
excitement  of  suffering  on  the  one  side  and  success 
on  the  other,  is  worthy  of  everlasting  remembrance. 
That  gentleman  was  one  of  the  few  English  who 
remained  at  Providence,  exposed  to  the  full  torrent 
of  war,  and  with  no  other  security  than  such  as  he 
attributed  to  long  acquaintance,  friendship,  and  good 
faith,  with  those  who  were  now  become  the  inveter 
ate  enemies,  and  were  openly  calculating  upon  the 
utter  extermination  of  his  race.  He  had  even  the 
hardihood  to  reproach  some  of  the  Sachems  who 
frequently  came  to  converse  with  him,  for  their 
cruelties ;  and  to  threaten  them  with  the  sure,  though 
it  might  be  lingering  vengeance  of  the  English. 
"  Massachusetts,"  said  he,  "  can  raise  thousands  of 
men  at  this  moment ;  and  if  you  kill  them,  the  King 
of  England  will  supply  their  place  as  fast  as  they 
fall."  "Well!"  answered  one  of  the  chieftains, 
"  let  them  come.  We  are  ready  for  them. — But  as 
for  you, — Brother  Williams, — you  are  a  good  man, — 
you  have  been  kind  to  us  many  years. — Not  a  hair 
of  your  head  shall  be  touched."  This  noble  pledge, 
bearing  upon  the  face  of  it  the  mark  of  the  chival 
rous  spirit  of  Canonchet,  was  regarded  throughout 
the  war  with  the  most  sacred  fidelity.  It  was  not  in 
vain  that  the  young  Sachem  remembered  the  warm 
affection  which  his  father  had  entertained  for  his 
English  neighbor  and  confidant. 

But  to  resume  the  narrative  ; — "  It  was  now  full 
*ea  with  Philip's  affairs,"  says  Mr.  Hubbard,  "for 
»oon  after  the  tide  of  his  successes  began  to  turn 
about  the  coast,  which  made  way  for  the  falling  of  the 
water  up  higher  in  the  country."  The  disasters  of  the 
Pokanoket  Sachem  commenced  with  no  less  a  mis 
fortune  than  the  death  of  Canonchet.  And  a  matter 
of  rejoicing  indeed  it  was  to  the  Colonies  of  the 
English — if  we  may  credit  the  historian  last  cited— 
"that  the  ring-leader  of  almost  all  this  mischief 
and  the  great  incendiary  betwixt  the  Narraghansetti 


310  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

and  us,  died  himself  by  that  sword  of  war  which 
he  had  drawn  against  others."  The  last  assertion 
might  perhaps  have  been  spared  to  advantage,  but 
the  epithets  furnish  the  best  evidence  in  favor  of  the 
subject  of  them  which  the  case  could  be  supposed  to 
present. 

Early  in  April,  it  seems,  Canonchet,  weary  of 
desolating  the  towns  of  the  English,  had  betaken 
himself  to  the  Indian  haunts  on  the  Connecticut 
river.  Here  he  continued  to  take  a  most  active  part 
in  the  war ;  the  whole  body  of  the  savages  to  the 
Westward  trusting,  (as  our  eulogist  expresses  him 
self,)  under  the  shadow  of  that  aspiring  bramble. 
Nor  was  it  in  battle  only  that  they  placed  reliance  on 
his  courage  and  genius.  It  was  necessary,  as  it  was 
difficult,  to  provide  the  means  of  sustenance,  from 
day  to  day,  for  something  like  one  thousand  five 
hundred  warriors,  with  their  women  and  children. 
Canonchet  suggested  the  plan  of  planting  the  lands 
on  the  West  bank  of  the  river,  recently  taken  from 
the  English.  But  how  should  even  the  means  of 
planting  be  obtained  ?  A  council  was  summoned  to 
solve  this  question  ;  but  not  a  man  could  be  found 
who  would  hazard  his  life,  at  this  season,  in  that 
section  of  the  country  where  corn  must  be  procured. 
The  Sachern  himself  went  forward,  and  proposed, 
with  the  assistance  of  thirty  volunteers,  who  soon 
found  courage  to  second  him,  to  undertake  a  journey 
to  Seekonk,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Montaup, 
the  old  residence  of  Philip. 

The  adventure  proved  fatal  to  him.  On  the  27th 
of  March,  Captain  Dennison,  of  Connecticut,  had 
commenced  a  volunteer  expedition  against  the  en 
emy,  with  about  fifty  English  soldiers,  and  eighty 
Niantick,  Pequot  and  Mohegan  Indians,  severally 
commanded  by  Catapazet,  Casasinamon  and  Oneco.* 
By  the  time  Canonchet  reached  Seekonk,  where 

*The  son  of  Uncas.  The  Pequot  Sachem  was  a  man  of  n-: 
particular  note.  Catapazet  was  subordinate  to  Ninigret. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  311 

he  encamped  on  Blackstone  river  near  the  Pawtucket 
falls,  Dennison's  party,  following  the  sea-coast,  had 
arrived  in  the  same  neighborhood.  The  former  was 
so  little  apprehensive  of  danger,  that  he  dismissed  all 
his  thirty  attendants  but  seven.  The  English,  on 
the  other  hand,  received  the  first  intimation  of  his 
being  near  them,  from  two  old  straggling  squaws, 
who  confessed,  on  being  captured,  that  Canorichet  was 
not  far  off.  The  intelligence  put  new  life  into  the 
weary  soldiers,  and  they  pressed  forward  till  they 
came  upon  fresh  tracks,  and  these  brought  them  in 
view  of  a  cluster  of  w  igwams  on  the  bank  of  the 
river. 

In  one  of  those  wigwams  Canonchet  was  at  this 
moment  reposing  from  the  fatigues  of  his  journey. 
His  seven  remaining  followers  sat  around  him  ;  and 
he  entertained  them  with  the  recital  of  the  bloody 
victory  over  Pierce's  detachment,  which  had  taken 
place  but  a  week  or  two  before.*  Suddenly  the 
speaker  suspended  his  narrative.  His  silent  audience 
started  to  their  feet,  and  stood  aghast.  The  trained 
ear  of  the  savage  had  already  detected  the  approach 
of  an  enemy.  Two  of  the  company  were  immedi 
ately  despatched  to  the  summit  of  the  hill,  at  the  foot 
of  which  the  wigwam  was  situated.  These  men, 
frightened  by  the  near  approach  of  the  English,  who 
were  now  (says  Hubbard,)  mounting  with  great  speed 
over  a  fair  champagna  on  the  other  side  of  the  hill, 
ran  by,  as  if  they  wanted  time  to  tell  what  they  saw. 
A  third  was  sent,  who  executed  his  errand  no  better. 
But  of  two  others  who  were  sent  up,  one  had  the 
courage  to  return  and  inform  the  Sachem,  in  great 

*So  writes  Mr.  Hubbard,  and  Trumbull  and  other*  fol 
low  his  authority.  Baylies  (Memoir  of  Plymouth  Colony,) 
doubts  the  correctness  of  the  statement,  alleging  that  Canon 
chet  did  not  leave  the  Connecticut  river  until  April,  wherea* 
Pierce's  defeat  happened  on  the  26th  of  March.  We  do  not 
however  conceive  that  the  distance  was  so  great,  but  it  might 
hare  been  traversed  more  than  once  after  the  battle  and  before 
the  surprisal 


312  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

haste  and  trepidation,  that  the  whole  English  army 
was  upon  him. 

Canonchet  had  no  means  of  defence,  and  no  time 
for  deliberation.  He  could  only  attempt  an  escape 
by  running  round  the  hill  opposite  his  pursuers ;  and 
he  had  not  gone  far  in  that  direction,  when  Catapazet, 
with  twenty  of  his  followers,  and  a  few  of  the  Eng- 
.ish  who  were  lightest  of  foot,  nearly  intercepted  him 
as  they  descended  the  hill,  and  immediately  com 
menced  a  vigorous  and  close  pursuit.  Canonchet 
was  a  fleet  runner,  but  the  swiftest  of  Catapazet's 
men  began  to  gain  upon  him.  He  threw  off  his 
blanket,  and  then  a  silver-laced  coat  which  had  been 

§'yen  him  on  the  renewal  of  his  league  at  Boston, 
is  wampum  belt  was  finally  abandoned ;  and  this 
betraying  his  rank  to  his  pursuers,  they  redoubled 
their  "efforts,  until  they  forced  him  to  betake  himself 
to  the  river,  in  which  he  plunged  forward  with  great 
haste.  Unluckily,  his  foot  sliped  upon  a  stone,  and 
this  not  only  delayed  him,  but  brought  him  down  so 
far  at  to  wet  the  gun  which  he  still  carried  in  one 
hand ;  "upon  which  accident,  he  confessed  soon 
after  (we  are  told,)  that  his  heart  and  his  bowels  turn 
ed  within  him,  so  as  he  became  like  a  rotten  stick, 
void  of  strength."* 

Thenceforth  he  submitted  to  his  destiny  without  a 
struggle.  He  was  a  large,  muscular  man;  and  as 
Hubbard  himself  allows,  of  "great  courage  of  mind," 
as  well  as  strength  of  body  ;  but  the  foremost  of  the 
hostile  party,  one  Monopoide,  a  Pequot,  laid  hold 
of  him  without  his  making  the  slightest  resistance. 
The  first  Englishman  who  came  up  was  Robert 
Stanton,  a  young  man  of  some  twenty  years  old  ;  yet 
adventuring  to  ask  him  a  question  or  two,  (continues 
the  historian,  with  a  touch  of  feeling  which  doea 
him  credit,)  the  manly  Sachem  looked  somewhat 
disdainfully  upon  his  youthful  face,  and  replied  in 
broken  English,  "you  much  child — no  understand 

*  Hubbard's  Narrative,  p.  129. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  313 

\var — let  your  chief  come — him  I  will  talk  with.** 
The  English  offered  him  his  life  if  he  would  submit 
to  their  government,  but  he  would  make  no  submis 
sion  of  any  kind.  They  suggested  his  sending  one 
of  his  men  to  propose  terms  to  his  Narraghansett 
warriors  in  the  west ;  but  he  refused  with  scorn.  He 
was  then  told  of  the  enmity  he  had  manifested  to 
wards  the  English.  "  And  many  others,"  he  replied 
haughtily,  "  will  be  found  of  the  same  mind  with  my 
self.  Let  me  hear  no  more  of  that."  When  informed 
of  what  his  fate  must  inevitably  be,  he  only  answered, 
"  It  is  well.  I  shall  die  before  my  heart  is  soft. — I 
shall  speak  nothing  which  Canonchet  should  be 
ashamed  to  speak. — It  is  well."  Even  those  who 
have  censured  the  Sachem  most,  touched  with  the 
fine  dignity  of  his  last  hours,  would  fain  search  in 
the  theory  of  a  Pythagorean  Metempsychosis  for  the 
secret  of  his  greatness.  Some  old  Roman  ghost,  say 
they,  must  have  possessed  the  body  of  this  Western 
Pagan.* 

He  was  soon  afterwards  taken  to  Stonington,  in 
Connecticut,  where  Dennison's  expediton  had  been 
fitted  out;  and  there  was  executed  upon  him  the 
sentence  of  death.  That  all  concerned  in  the  cap 
ture  of  so  proud  a  victim  might  be  gratified  with  a 
share  in  the  honors  of  his  slaughter,  the  English 
contented  themselves  with  being  spectators  of  the 
scene,  while  the  Pequots  were  permitted  to  shoot 
him,  the  Mohegans  to  behead  and  quarter  him,f  and 
Ninigret's  men  to  kindle  the  pile  upon  which  he 
was  burned.  As  a  token  of  love  and  fidelity  to  their 
civilized  allies,  his  head  only  was  reserved,  to  be  pre 
sented  to  the  English  council  at  Hartford.  It  ia 
remarkable,  that  Oneco,  on  this  occasion,  took  ftie 
same  part  in  the  execution  of  Canonchet,  and  under 
very  similar  circumstances,  which,  near  forty  years 
before,  his  father  Uncas  had  taken  in  that  of  Mianto- 
uomo,  the  father  of  Canonchet. 

J  *  Hubbard. 
t  Baylies'  Memoir  of  Plymouth  Colony. 


314  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

Thus  fell,  in  the  prime  of  his  manhood,  the  last 
Chief-Sachem  of  the  Narraghansetts,  the  grand- 
nephew  of  Canonicus,  and  the  son  of  Miantonomo 
The  English  historians  of  his  own  period  may  be 
excused  for  the  prejudice  with  which  they  regarded 
him  (as  they  did  all  who  fought  for  the  same  cause 
with  the  same  courage,)  and  which  nevertheless  af 
fords  to  the  reader  of  these  days  the  most  satisfac 
tory  proof  of  his  high  reputation  and  formidable 
talents.  "  This,"  says  one  writer,  "  was  the  confu 
sion  of  a  damned  wretch,  that  had  often  opened  hia 
mouth  to  blaspheme."  Again: — "as  a  just  reward 
of  his  wickedness  he  was  adjudged  by  those  who 
took  him  to  die." 

It  were  useless  to  dispute  these  positions,  for  every 
reader  of  history  possesses  the  means  of  forming  a 
just  opinion  whether  or  not  they  are  sound.  But  at 
all  events,  (as  an  author  of  a  more  liberal  period  has 
observed,)*  we  may  surely  at  this  day  be  permitted 
to  lament  the  unhappy  fate  of  this  noble  Indian, 
without  incurring  any  imputation  for  want  of  patriot 
ism.  In  the  entire  compass  of  Indian,  and  we  might 
perhaps  add,civilized  history,  there  is  no  finer  instance 
of  that  generous  and  chivalrous  character,  which— 
whatever  it  might  be  termed  under  other  circum 
stances — in  the  situation  of  Canonchet,  and  with 
his  sincere  and  strict  principles,  can  only  be  approved 
and  admired,  as  humanity  to  the  suffering  who  sought 
his  protection  ;  as  fidelity  to  his  own  and  his  father's 
friends;  as  a  proud  and  lofty  sacrifice  of  royalty, 
liberty  and  life  itself  to  honor ;  as  patriotism  to  his 
country,  and  as  religion  to  his  gods. 

*  Baylies'  Memoir  of  Plymouth  Colony. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


Account  of  the  Pawtucket  confederacy  in  New  Hampshire  — 
PASS  ACON  AWAY,  their  Chief  Sachem  —  He  is  disarmed  by 
order  of  the  Massachusetts  Government.  His  residence, 
age  and  authority  —  He  maintains  a  good  understanding 
with  the  English  —  Visits  Boston^-The  Apostle  Elliot's  ao 
quaintance  with,  and  notice  of  him  —  His  views  of  Christiani 
ty  —  Festival,  and  Farewell  speech  to  his  tribe  in  1660  — 
Death  and  character  —  His  son  and  successor,  WONOLAN 
SET.  Anecdotes  of  the  family  —  Legend  of  Passaconaway'a 
feats  as  a  Powah. 

TURNING  our  attention  to  a  part  of  the  country  and 
*D  a  people  which  have  not  yet  been  the  subject  of 
fepecial  notice,  we  shall  now  introduce,  with  the  fol 
lowing  passage  from  Winthrop's  Journal,  an  indi 
vidual  of  far  too  much  distinction  to  be  wholly  over 
looked.  The  date  is  of  July,  1642  :— 

"  There  came  letters  from  the  court  at  Connecticut, 
and  from  two  of  the  magistrates  there,  and  from  Mr. 
Ludlow  near  the  dutch,  certifying  us  that  the  Indians 
all  over  the  country  had  combined  themselves  to  cut 
off  all  the  English  —  that  the  time  was  appointed 
after  harvest  —  the  manner  also  they  should  go,  by 
small  companies  to  the  chief  men's  houses  by  way 
of  trading  &c.  and  should  kill  them  in  the  house 
and  seize  their  weapons,  and  then  others  should  be 
at  hand  to  prosecute  the  massacre.  *  *  Upon  these 
letters  the  Governor  called  so  many  of  the  magis 
trates  as  were  near,  and  being  met  they  sent  out 
summons  for  a  general  court  to  be  kept  six  days 
after,  and  in  the  meantime  it  was  thought  fit,  for  our 
safety,  and  to  strike  some  terror  into  the  Indians,  to 
disarm  such  as  were  within  our  jurisdiction.  Ac 
cordingly  we  sent  men  to  Cutshamkin  at  Brantree 
to  fetch  him  and  his  guns,  bows  &c.  which  was 
done,  aud  he  carne  willingly,  and  being  late  in  the 
night  when  they  came  to  Boston,  he  was  put  in  the 


31b  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

prison,  but  the  next  morning,  finding  upon  exami 
nation  of  him  and  divers  of  his  men,  no  ground  of 
suspicion  of  his  partaking  in  any  such  conspiracy, 
he  was  dismissed.  Upon  the  warrant  which  went 
to  Ipswich,  Rowlye  and  Newberry  to  disarm  PAS- 
SAC  ONAMY,  who  lived  by  Merrimack,  they  sent  forth 
forty  men  armed  the  next  day,  being  the  Lord's-day, 
but  it  rained  all  the  day,  as  it  had  done  divers  days 
before  and  also  after,  so  as  they  could  not  go  to  his 
wigwam,  but  they  came  to  his  son's  and  took  him, 
which  they  had  warrant  for,  and  a  squa  and  her 
child,  which  they  had  no  warrant  for,  and  therefore 
order  was  given  so  soon  as  he  heard  of  it,  to  send 
them  home  again.  They  fearing  his  son's  escape, 
led  him  in  a  line,  but  he  taking  an  opportunity,  slip 
ped  his  line  and  escaped  from  them,  but  one  very 
indiscreetly  made  a  shot  at  him,  and  missed  hirn 
narrowly." 

The  Sachem  here  mentioned,  and  commonly  call 
ed  PASSACONAWAY,*  was  generally  known  among 
the  Indians  as  the  Great  Sagamore  of  Pannuhog,  or 
Penacook — that  being  the  name  of  a  tribe  who  in 
habited  Concord,  (New  Hampshire)  and  the  country 
for  many  miles  above  and  below,  on  Merrimac  river. 
The  Penacooks  were  among  the  most  warlike  of  the 
northern  Indians ;  and  they,  almost  alone,  seem  to 
have  resisted  the  occasional  ancient  inroads  of  the 
Mohawks,  and  sometimes  even  to  have  carried  the 
war  into  their  territories.  One  of  their  forts,  built 
purposely  for  defence  against  these  invasions,  was 
upon  Sugar-Ball  Hill,  in  Concord;  and  tradition  in 
distinctly  preserves  to  this  time  the  recollection  of 
an  obstinate  engagement  between  the  two  tribes, 
which  occurred  on  the  banks  of  the  Merrimac  in  that 
vicinity. 

The  Penacooks  were  one  member  of  a  large  con- 

*Hubbard  writes  Passaconnawa  :  Mr.  Elliot,  Papascaccn- 
away:  Wood,  in  that  most  singular  curiosity,  NEW  ENG 
LAND'S  PROSPECT,  has  pointed  out  Piesaconawa's  locatio* 
on  his  map,  by  a  cluster  of  marks  representing  wigwams. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  317 

federacy,  more  or  less  under  Passaconavvay's  control, 
which,  beside  comprising  several  small  tribes  in 
Massachusetts,  extended  nearly  or  quite  as  far  in  the 
opposite  direction  as  the  northern  extremity  of  Lake 
Winepissiogee.  Among  those  who  acknowledged 
subjection  to  him  were  the  Agawams  (at  Ipswich,) 
the  Naamkeeks  (at  Salem,)  the  Pascataquas,  the  Ac- 
corn  in  tas,  and  the  Sachems  of  Squarnscot,  Newich- 
wannock  and  Pawtucket, — the  latter  being  also  the 
National  name  of  all  the  confederates.  Passacona- 
way  is  supposed  to  have  resided,  occasionally,  at 
what  is  now  Haverhill  (Mass.)  bat  he  afterwards 
lived  among  the  Penacooks. 

He  must  have  been  quite  advanced  in  life  at  the 
date  of  the  earliest  English  settlements  on  the  coast, 
for  he  is  said  to  have  died,  about  1665,  at  the  great 
age  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  years,  though  that 
statement  indeed  has  an  air  of  exaggeration.  The 
first  mention  of  him  is  in  the  celebrated  Wheelwright 
deed  of  1629 — the  authenticity  of  which  it  is  not  ne 
cessary  to  discuss  in  this  connexion.  In  1642,  Passa- 
quo  and  Saggahew,  the  Sachems  of  Haverhill  (Mass.) 
conveyed  that  township  to  the  original  settlers,  by 
deed  sealed  and  signed, — the  consideration  being 
three  pounds  ten  shillings,  and  the  negotiation  ex 
pressly  "  w!h  y*  consent  of  Passaconaway"* 

It  was  about  the  time  of  this  conveyance  that  the 
measures  already  mentioned  were  taken  for  '  disarm 
ing  '  the  old  chieftain.  That  was  clearly  a  most  un 
exampled  stretch  of  prerogative,  especially  as  Passa- 
conaway  had  hitherto  maintained  his  independence 
equally  with  his  apparent  good  will  for  the  English. 
There  is  some  apology  for  the  outrage  in  the  excite 
ment  of  the  period,  which  was  so  powerful,  it  appears, 
even  with  the  well-informed  and  well-meaning  citi 
zens  of  Boston,  that  they  hesitated  not  to  entertain 
the  Braintree  Sachem,  their  most  obedient  servant 

•  The  original  is  still  in  the  possession  of  a  gentleman  i« 
Haverhill.  See  Mirick's  History  of  that  town. 


318  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY 

on  all  occasions,  in  the  town-jail.  Even  the  report 
of  a  gun,  in  the  light-time,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  town,  was  now  sufficient  to  rouse  the  good  citi 
zens  far  and  wide  ;  and  the  shouts  of  a  poor  fellow 
at  Watertown,  who,  having  lost  himself  in  the  woods, 
cried  out  somewhat  lustily  for  help ! — help  ! — against 
an  apprehended  assault  of  the  wild-cats  round  ahout 
him,  produced  an  alarm  hardly  less  serious  than 
would  probably  have  followed  an  actual  foray  of  the 
Mohawks. 

This  excitement,  we  sav.  furnishes  an  apology  for 
the  harsh  treatment  ot  tne  Grand-Sachem.  The 
government,  upon  cool  reflection,  appears  to  have 
been  sensible  of  having  gone  too  far,  and  what  is 
creditable  to  them,  they  were  not  ashamed  to  make 
such  explanations  of  the  matter,  promptly  and  polite 
ly,  to  the  injured  party,  as  were  fitting  their  own  true 
dignity  as  well  as  his.  Governor  Winthrop,  speaking 
of  the  treatment  of  the  Squaw  and  the  Son  as  '  an 
unwarranted  proceeding,'  and  conceiving  "  that  Pas- 
saconamy  would  look  at  it  as  a  manifest  injury," 
called  the  court  together,  and  proposed  measures  of 
reparation.  Cutchamequin  was  accordingly  sent  to 
the  old  Sachem,  to  disclaim  any  order  for  kidnapping 
the  woman  and  child,  and  discharging  a  musket  at 
the  boy,  and  to  explain  to  him  the  real  purpose  and 
principle  of  the  warrant.  Passaconaway  listened 
with  composure,  and  returned  answer  that  when 
ever  the  two  absent  members  of  his  family  should  be 
returned,  he  would  of  his  own  accord  render  in  the 
required  artillery, — (and  this,  it  would  seem,  the  war- 
party  which  went  out  from  Boston  on  the  Sabbath, 
had  not  after  all  been  able  to  effect.)  One  of  them 
was  still  in  custody,  and  the  other  had  taken  refuge 
in  the  woods.  "  Accordingly,"  adds  our  authority, 
"  about  a  fortnight  after,  he  sent  his  eldest  son,  who 
delivered  up  his  guns, "  &c.  The  fair  inference  is 
that  the  conditions  made  by  the  Sachem  were  per 
formed  to  his  satisfaction. 

At  all  events,  he  considered  it  a  good  policy  to 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY.  319 

maintain  peaceable  relations  with  his  much  excited 
neighbors ;  he  was  too  old,  as  most  of  his  near 
relatives — children  or  grand-children — seern  to  have 
been  too  young.  On  the  other  hand,  the  English 
movements  in  this  case,  taken  together,  certainly  in 
dicate  a  resoectful  estimate  of  his  character  ;  and  in 
fact  the  policy  by  which  he  was  gained  over,  was  so 
much  valued,  that  either  Mr.  Winthrop  alludes  to  his 
one  act  of  submission  repeatedly,  or  else  the  Govern 
ment  troubled  itself  to  have  the  scene  actually  re 
hearsed  as  many  times : — 

"At  this  Court,"  says  the  Journal,  for  the  spring 
of  1644,  "  Passaconamy,  the  Merrimack  Sachem, 
came  in  and  submitted  to  our  Government,  as  Pum- 
ham  &c.  had  done  before." 

And  again,  in  1645 — "At  this  Court,  in  the  third 
month,  Passaconamy,  the  Chief  Sachem  of  Merri 
mack,  and  his  sons,  came  and  submitted  themselves 
and  their  people  and  lands  under  our  jurisdiction,  an 
Pumham  and  others  had  done  before." 

One  of  the  most  distinct  notices  of  the  old  Saga 
more  occurs  in  that  ancient  tract,  "  THE  LIGHT  AP 
PEARING  &c."  most  of  which  was  written  by  the 
apostle  Elliot,  in  1649.  He  preached  about  that  time 
it  Pautucket,  that  being  "  a  fishing  place  where  from 
11  parts  they  met  together." 

"The  Chief  Sachem  at  this  place,"  says  Mr.  Elliot, 
and  of  all  Mermak,  is  Papassaconaway,  whom  1 
nentioned  unto  you  the  last  yeere,  ivho  gave  up  kim- 
yelf  and  his  sonnts  to  pray  unto  God ;  this  man  did 
this  yeere  show  very  great  affection  to  me,  and  to 
the  Word  of  God."  The  writer  adds,  that  the  Saga 
more  even  urged  his  solicitations  importunately  using 
withal  many  "  elegant  arguments,  with  much  gravity, 
wisdome  and  affection."  He  observed,  among  other 
things,  that  the  preacher's  coming  there  once  e  year 
did  them  but  little  good,  "because  they  soone  had 
forgotten  what  he  taught,  it  being  so  seldorne,  and  so 
long  betwixt  the  times."  Another  sound  suggestion 
was,  that  the  Sagamore  had  many  subjects  who 


320  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

**  would  not  beleeve  him  that  praying  to  God  trai 
BO  good,"  whereas  as  no  doubt  they  might  be  con 
vinced  by  the  preaching  itself.  Nor  did  Mr.  Elliot, 
he  thought,  allow  himself  leisure  enough  to  explain 
and  prove  what  he  asserted.  It  was  "as  if  one 
should  come  and  throw  a  fine  thing  among  them, 
and  they  earnestly  catch  at  it,  and  like  it  well,  because 
it  looks  finely,  but  could  not  look  into  it,  to  see  what 
is  within, — whether  something  or  nothing, — stock, 
stone  or  precious  jewel."  So  it  was  with  praying; 
it  might  be  excellent,  as  it  seemed, — but  on  the  other 
hand  it  might  be  hollow  and  empty, — he  wished  to 
see  it  opened. 

Whether  this  sensible  advice  was  followed  as  far  as 
it  could  be,  is  uncertain  ;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  Sagamore  himself  became,  if  not  almost  a 
Christian,  yet  strongly  prepossessed  in  favor  of  the 
English.  In  1660,  an  English  gentleman,  who  had 
been  much  conversant  among  the  Indians,  was  in 
vited  to  a  great  dance  and  feast,  at  which  among 
other  ceremonies,  Passaconaway,  now  very  old, 
made  a  farewell  speech  to  his  people.  He  cautioned 
them  especially,  as  a  dying  man,  to  take  heed  how 
they  quarrelled  with  the  English.  He  said,  that 
though  they  might  do  the  whites  some  damage,  it 
would  prove  the  sure  means  of  their  own  destruction ; 
and  that,  as  for  himself,  he  had  formerly  tried  his 
utmost  by  the  arts  of  sorcery  to  hinder  their  settle 
ment  and  increase,  but  all  to  no  purpose. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  when  Philip's  War  broke 
out,  fifteen  years  after  this  transaction,  WONOLANSET, 
the  Sagamore's  son  and  successor,  withdrew  both 
himself  and  his  people  into  some  remote  place, 
where  he  wholly  escaped  the  disasters  and  excite 
ment  of  the  times.  Probably  there  was  no  other 
instance  of  the  kind  among  all  the  tribes. 

The  allusion  made  by  Passaconaway  to  the  arts  of 
sorcery  should  be  explained,  by  observing  that  he 
had  formerly  been,  for  a  long  term  of  years,  one  of 
the  most  noted  Powalis,  or  Conjurors,  ever  heard  of 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  321 

among  the  Indians  of  New  England.  Perhaps  hia 
dominion  itself,  and  certainly  the  greater  part  of  his 
influence,  was  acquired  by  his  talents  exercised  in 
that  capacity.  He  indeed  excelled  his  contempora 
ries,  as  all  historians  allow,  in  general  sagacity  and 
duplicity,  as  well  as  in  moderation  and  self-com 
mand  ;*  but  these  were  the  very  qualities  propei  for 
playing  off  that  game  on  the  extreme  superstition  of 
the  Indians,  which  has  so  frequently  been  tried 
among  them,  and  yet  so  rarely  with  a  very  prevalent 
or  very  permanent  success. 

But  Passaconaway's  attempt  was  no  failure.  He 
induced  the  savages  to  believe  it  in  his  power  to 
make  water  burn,  and  trees  dance ;  to  metamorphose 
himself  into  a  flame  ;  and  to  raise,  in  winter,  a  green 
leaf  from  the  ashes  of  a  dry  one,  and  a  living  serpent 
from  the  skin  of  one  which  was  dead.  Few  modern 
practitioners,  we  presume,  have  surpassed  the  old 
Sagamore  in  the  arts  of  legerdemain.  These,  how 
ever,  were  not  his  substantive  profession,  or  at  least 
not  long.  The  politician  soon  emerged  from  the 
slough  of  the  juggler.  The  Priest  became  a  Sachem ; 
the  Sachem,  the  Grand  Sagamore  of  Penacook ;  and 
the  Sagamore  preserved  not  only  his  own  power, 
but  his  son's  after  him,  by  a  series  of  diplomatic  de 
monstrations,  and  a  few  words  of '  elegant'  civility, 
which,  without  disparaging  his  importance  with  his 
countrymen,  made  him  the  most  agreeable  neighbor 
to  the  English. 

That  Passaconaway  was  living  as  late  as  1662, 
appears  from  the  following  annecdote  of  that  date. 
Manataqua,  Sachem  of  Saugus,  made  known  to 
the  chief  of  Panacook,  that  he  desired  to  marry  his 
daughter,  which  being  agreeable  to  all  parties,  the 
wedding  was  soon  consummated,  at  the  residence  of 
Passaconaway,  and  the  hilarity  was  closed  with  a 
sp-eat  feast.  According  to  the  usages  of  chiefs, 
Passaconaway  ordered  a  select  number  of  his  men  te 

*See  Hubbard,  Hutchiuson,  Belknap,  &c. 
10-21 


322  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

accompany  the  new  married  couple  to  the  dwelling 
of  the  husband.  When  they  had  arrived  there, 
several  days  of  feasting  followed,  for  the  entertain 
ment  of  his  friends,  who  could  not  be  present  at  the 
ceremony  in  the  first  instance,  as  well  as  for  the  es 
cort  ;  who,  when  this  was  ended,  returned  to  Penn- 
akook. 

Some  time  after,  the  wife  of  Manataqua  expressing 
a  desire  to  visit  her  father's  house  and  friends,  was 
permitted  to  go,  and  a  choice  company  conducted 
her.  When  she  wished  to  return  to  her  husband, 
her  father,  instead  of  conveying  her  as  before,  sent 
to  the  young  Sachem  to  come  and  take  her  away. 
He  took  this  in  high  dudgeon,  and  sent  his  father-in- 
law  this  answer :  "  When  she  departed  from  me,  I 
caused  my  men  to  escort  her  to  your  dwelling,  as 
became  a  chief.  She  now  having  an  intention  to 
return  to  me,  I  did  expect  the  same."  The  elder 
Sachern  was  in  his  turn  angry,  and  returned  an 
answer  which  only  increased  the  difference ;  and  it 
is  believed  that  thus  terminated  the  connexion  of  the 
new  husband  and  wife.* 

In  the  Third  Volume  of  Farmer  and  Moore's  His 
torical  Collections,  may  be  seen  an  account  of  the 
death  of  an  Indian  called  SAINT  ASPINQUID,  May  1st, 
1682,  at  Mount  Agamenticus  on  the  coast  of  Maine, 
where  his  tombstone  is  said  to  be  still  visible.  It  is 
also  stated,  that  he  was  born  in  1588,  and  of  course 
died  aged  about  ninety- four ;  that  lie  was  over  forty 
years  old  when  he  was  converted  to  Christianity 
that  from  that  time  he  employed  himself  in  preaching 
the  gospel  among  the  Indians;  and  that  his  funeral 
obsequies  were  attended  by  many  Sachems  of  various 
tribes,  and  celebrated  by  a  grand  hunt  of  the  war 
riors.f 

*  Manuscript  documents,  cited  in  Drake's  Indian  Biogra 
phy. 

|At  which  were  slain  "ninety-nine  bears,  thirty-six  moose 
eighty-two  wild-cats,  thirty-eight  porcupines,"  and  a  lung  list  of 
»ther  animals  o(>  various  names. 


INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY  323 

We  are  inclined  to  hazard  the  hypothesis,  that  this 
Saint  was  no  other  than  our  Sagamore ;  that  Aga- 
menticus  was  the  retreat  of  Wonolanset,  or  at  least 
of  his  father,  during  and  subsequent  to  Philip's  war; 
and  that  the  latter  obtained  his  new  name  from  his 
new  friends,  and  the  title  attached  to  it  from  an 
English  source.  It  certainly  would  be  remarkable, 
that  so  many  and  such  particulars  should  appear  of 
the  death  of  a  man  never  before  heard  of.  And  on 
the  other  hand,  the  reputation  and  the  age  attributed 
to  Aspinquid,  agree  strikingly  with  those  of  Passa- 
conaway.  By  his  *  preaching '  must  be  meant  his 
sacred  character  and  the  great  exertions  he  made  to 
keep  peace  with  the  English  ;  and  the  date  of  the 
alleged  *  conversion,'  we  suppose  to  have  been  the 
same  with  that  of  his  first  acquaintance  with  the 
whites  in  1629. 

Our  sketch  may  be  fitly  concluded  with  one  of 
those  popular  traditions  concerning  the  old  Chief, 
which  happens  still  to  be  in  such  preservation  as  to 
form  now  and  then,  in  some  sections  of  the  country, 
the  burden  of  a  fireside  tale.  It  is  probably  a  fair 
illustration  of  the  opinion  entertained  of  his  abilities 
by  the  credulous  of  his  own  era. 

He  said,  that  Sachem  once  to  Dover  came, 
From  Penacook,  when  eve  was  setting  in. 
With  plumes  his  locks  were  dressed,  his  eves  shot  fla-mej 
lie  struck  his  massy  ciul»  witn  dreadful  din, 
That  oft  had  made  the  ranks  of  battle  thin ; 
Around  his  copper  neck  terrific  hung 
A  tied-together,  bear  and  catamount  skin ; 
The  curious  fishbones  o'er  his  bosom  swung, 
And  thrice  the  Sachem  danced,  and  thrice  the  Sachem  sung 

Strange  man  was  he  !     'T  was  said,  he  oft  pursued 

The  sable  bear,  and  slew  him  in  his  den; 

That  oft  he  howled  through  many  a  pathless  wood, 

And  many  a  tangled  wild,  and  poisonous  fen, 

That  ne'er  was  trod  by  other  mortal  men. 

The  craggy  ledge  for  rattlesnakes  he  sought, 

And  choked  them  one  by  one,  and  then 


324  INDIAN    BIOGRAPHY. 

O'ertook  the  tall  gray  moose,  as  quick  as  thought, 
And  then  the  mountain  cat  he  chased,  and  chasing  caught 

A  wondrous  wight!     For  o'er  'Siogee's  ice, 
With  brindled  wolves,  all  harnessed  three  and  three. 
High  seated  on  a  sledge,  made  in  a  trice, 
On  mount  Agiocochook,*  of  hickory, 
He  lashed  and  reeled,  and  sung  right  jollily  ; 
And  once  upon  a  car  of  flaming  fire, 
The  dreadful  Indian  shook,  with  fear,  to  see 
The  king  of  Penacook,  his  chief,  his  sire, 
Ride  flaming  up  towards  heaven,  than  any  mountain  higher. f 

*  The  Indian  name  applied  to  the  White  Mountains.  There  is  ;i 
curious  tradition,  preserved  in  Josselyn's  New  England,  of  the 
veneration  of  the  Indians  for  the  summits  of  these  mountains; 
They  considered  them  the  dwelling  places  of  invisible  beings,  and 
never  ventured  to  ascend  them.  They  had  also  a  tradition,  that 
the  whole  country  was  once  drowned,  with  all  its  inhabitants, 
except  one  Indian  with  his  wife,  who,  foreseeing  the  flood,  fled 
to  these  mountains,  were  preserved,  and  afterwards  re-peopled 
the  country. — Ed. 

t  See  P.  and  M   His.  Coll. 


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